


For The Love Of My Family and Patron God

by missyla



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:49:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 71,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missyla/pseuds/missyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xena is a General of an army for King Phillip. When the cities he reigns over are, threaten by a Warlord, Xena and her army have to venture out to find and take care of him, and running into old friends and maybe some enemies along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Xena took a seat at the elegant vanity table strategically placed on the eastern wall of her bedroom, where during the day there was plenty of light for her to analyze her incredibly beautiful features.

The room around her was lavishing decorated in red and gold. Behind her sat a large, comfortable canopy bed with thick bed posts and an exquisitely decorated headboard. Above the headboard hung two paintings an ancient one, immortalizing the surreal image of the imposing Mount Olympus covered in fog and another one displaying a disturbingly bloody battle at the gates of Corinth.

Satin sheets, lacy bedspreads and pillowcases to match covered the fairy tale bed…..very feminine, one could say. To all appearances they had been chosen to catch the eye of any beholder.

The double windows situated at the left of the bed were framed in thick heavy dark red curtains meant, beyond any shadow of a doubt, to keep the overly hot rays of the midday sun from filtering in. Under the window sat a tiny night table with a salt lamp upon it perfectly mirrored at the right by an identical one.

In front of the bed there was an antique cast iron fire-place that gave the entire room a very distinct, homey atmosphere. The large mahogany armoires were on the left side of the fireplace, and colorful, Persian rugs covered the floor…..All in all, a very luxurious decor so to speak, completed by a fine candle chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

The Warrior Princess took in a deep breath of air. There was an unusual, heavy sort of silence all around the Halls of War. It didn't bother her, but she didn't like it either.

She pulled the brush roughly through her hair a couple of times, analyzing carefully each inch of her flawless visage. In but a matter of seconds nevertheless, a certain unwelcome memory suddenly caused her forehead to wrinkle.

Way too deep in thought to notice him, Xena didn't even realize that she wasn't alone anymore. The War God had entered their bedchamber, and as he caught a glimpse of her, a smug smile on his face told it all….Still, he wasn't there to gloat…much.

As he silently walked over to her, he put his arms around her neck, resting his chin on top of her head and looked in the mirror to stare into her eyes.

The reaction wasn't precisely the one he was expecting though, for the following instant, she jerked away from him, slamming the hairbrush on the table with unusual force as she got up from the chair. She looked furious. She didn't say anything though, she just headed straight to her armoires to find something decent to wear that night, for a very special event she was about to attend.

Picking out a suitable blue dress from the countless she had stored in there, she closed the doors. When she turned around again, Ares was standing right behind her again.

She just ignored him again, an arched eyebrow letting him know that she was not in the mood for any type of conversation.

"Ok, what's wrong?" he inquired, doing his best not to grin at her.

She just cast him am indifferent glance as she padded by him on her way to the closet on the opposite side of the room to find some shoes to match her outfit, not bothering to answer his question. When finally found what she was looking for, she made her way back to the vanity table for the finishing touches, taking a seat in her chair again, and began a feverish search for a particular necklace in the jewelry box.

Without wasting precious time, Ares swaggered over to the vanity table by her side, and putting his elbows atop it and his head in his hands he started studying her closely.

"You know… If I had known that kicking your ass in a sword fight would cause so many problems, I would have let you win just like I 've done in so many times in the past…."

That was obviously the drop that spilled the cup, cause this time she jumped up so fast that she almost knocked the chair over.

Ares stood up straight too, and he was visibly surprised when she slowly reached out, and, gently cupping his chin she brought his face so close to hers that their lips were almost touching.

She was still staring deeply into his brown eyes when her lips finally curled up and she spat at him:

"You have never let me just win! I beat you fair and square every single time and we both know it!"

Smirking at her line, and definitely pleasantly impressed with her feisty attitude, he leaned in and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. As the shock began to wear off, she found herself returning the kiss.

With her arms folded around his neck, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her even closer, into a deeper, more brutal kiss.

Moments later, as he removed his hands from her hair, he slid the tips of his fingers down the side of her neck, across her shoulders and further down to her waist, moving his arms to encircle her, and, when she least expected it, he grabbed ahold of her ass and squeezed.

Her head shot up almost instantly and she made sure she looked into his eyes again for a second. He was staring at her with a self-satisfying grin on his face.

She smiled warily back at him before her head butted him right in the forehead.

He fell back onto the floor clutching his forehead; she looked at him once more, gave him a pretty little smile and strutted out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

TBC IN CHAPTER TWO...


	2. The Ball

The banquet hall was a huge room with mirrors decorating the walls, and high ceilings painted with exquisite pictures envisaging Gods and Goddess alike. Candle chandeliers hanging down from it and set up in the middle of the room was a dance floor. A band of sorts was playing on a stage nearby; tables with peach table clothes and a large bouquet of wild flowers in the middle, made the atmosphere seem more than romantic.

Xena entered the grand ballroom; her dress designed by Aphrodite herself; was supposed to make her feel like the Queen of Olympus on that very special occasion. The main attraction of the evening…

It was a dark blue gown, silky and shiny, a dress fit for a Goddess beyond any shadow of a doubt. The strapless form-fitting bodice ended at the top of her thighs, flared out to a full skirt and draped past her feet to the floor…. She looked astonishing….

She slowly made her way to one of the tables in the corner through the crowd of Gods and Goddess, and, finally reaching it, she sat down heavily in a wooden chair with her back to the wall, elbows on the table, childishly leaning her chin in her hands and absently tracing the pattern of the table-cloth with her index.

Right out of nowhere, in a shower of pink heart-shaped sparkles, Aphrodite popped in the other chair at the table, right in front of her.

"Hey tall, dark, and beautiful, Where's my big Bro, and why isn't he here with you? "

The Warrior Princess obstinately refused to take her eyes from her finger, still tracing the tablecloth's pattern.

"He doesn't care that I'm leaving, why would he bother to come to a farewell party whose guest of honor I am?"

Aphrodite patted Xena's back in unspoken sympathy.

"Oh, Sweetie, did you two have another fight?"

Getting no answer out of her, she kept talking, though. After all, getting Xena to confess was as hard as breaking down the walls of Troy.

"You two are always fighting….making up just to fight again! I swear you are going to drive me madder than the Furies themselves ever could!"

With that, she put her hands on her temples, shaking her head back and forth like indeed she was going mad.

Xena looked up and chuckled lowly.

"Ok, ok Dite I'm sorry, I don't want to cause you any trouble tonight; let's forget about Ares' and let's enjoy the party, shall we?"

Aphrodite smiled and nodded appreciatively; then, they both got up and headed to the dance floor.

It didn't last long until the War God popped in the banquet hall, next to his sister Artemis who was primping like an obsessed teenager in one of the mirrors on the wall.

"Well hello there brother! It was about time you showed up, I believe everyone here noticed your absence … Your precious Chosen must have felt it the most, even if though our baby sister Dite, had taken your place on the dance floor." she announced, pointing her finger in Xena's direction, and Ares followed it to see what she was talking about.

Needless to say that he was more than relieved when he noticed that it was in deed Aphrodite the one that was dancing with his Princess and not some horny God hoping to get her to bed that night.

"Well…. with a room full of God's, I'm sure glad she decided to pick Dite to dance with. It could have been worse, I mean she could have picked anyone of these losers…." he concluded, and Artemis couldn't help glaring mischievously at him.

"Yeah, why should she make the same mistake twice?"

Hearing her naughty comment, Ares formed almost instantly a fireball in his palm, and he was more than ready to throw it at his sister, when Zeus grabbed his arm.

"Don't even think about it son!"

Ares' glanced at his Father then at his sister and made the fireball disappear.

"I've got more important things to attend to anyway," he mumbled, walking away from them and heading to Xena and Aphrodite who were still having a blast on the dance floor.

Talking about the Love Goddess and the Warrior Princess, the girls were too busy slow dancing together to even notice Ares coming up along beside them.

As he closed in the distance between them, the War God arched a pensive eyebrow….He couldn't help loving how their bodies touched each time they moved, how close their breasts were….how their forms seemed to mold together. It was definitely a turn on image.

Nevertheless, the swift change in rhythm made him snap out of the trance, and , tapping his baby sister on the shoulder, he made sure he interrupted their sensual duet…They both looked up at the intruder, but Aphrodite stepped away and waved her hand at Xena.

"Be my guest."

A little wave at the couple and she was gone in a burst of pink flowers.

Once they were alone again, Ares and Xena turned to face each other.

"May I?" He courteously inquired with a bow."

She sighed and snuggled up to his chest and wrapped her arms around him, and he wrapped his arms around her and thus, they danced the following melody together.

As the last notes of the song died out, they returned to their table, taking a sit next to each other, drinking wine and holding hands.

"Had enough of this yet?" he whispered lowly against her ear. "You look too freaking sexy to even be here…"

She turned her head slightly and gave him 'the look' which he knew very well it was her smartass answer to a very stupid question.

Without wasting any more time, he put his glass of wine down and, within a blink, his arms were tightly wrapped around her….They were gone in a flash of blue moments later….

Reappearing in their bedroom, Xena headed straight for her vanity table taking off her jewelry as she went, took a sit in her chair and deposited everything in her jewelry box.

With slow, lazy moves, she picked up her hairbrush and turned to the mirror to start her nightly ritual of 100 strokes to her hair.

Looking in the mirror, she searched for Ares, and found him lying across the bed on his back, propped up on his elbows watching her.

Their gazes locked as she slowly pulled the brush through her long black hair, taking extra careful strokes. She watched him in the mirror as he shifted uncomfortably on the bed, propping his leg up on the bed, but never taking his eyes off of her.

When she finally finished, she pushed her hair back from her shoulders and replaced the brush on the vanity table. For some weird reason, she looked a bit nervous….

She then turned sideways in the chair, and with provocative, sexy moves, she slid her hands down past her knees, stopping for a little while to gather her dress in her fist, deliberately raising it up to her thighs, and, with her legs stretched out in front of her, the cunning Warrior Princess began gliding her fingers gradually down her smooth tan leg to the laces crisscrossing up the calf.

She took one loose end of the bow and began to untie it, and, as the rest of the laces fell to the floor, she continued with her fingers, to leisurely caress her ankle, slipping her foot out of her heel only to repeat the same indolent process with her other shoe.

By the time she finished, Ares had moved to laying on his side, strategically propping up on his elbow head in hand for a better view of what she was doing, anxiously licking his lips. Judging by his face he was deliriously pleased with what he had before him.

From that angle, he could clearly see the fine fabric shifting ever so slightly when she moved to offer him a better view of her cleavage.

When she finished with the other shoe she placed her hands flat on top of her ankles and slipped them both up her legs again; she was indescribably attractive…

His lips parted involuntarily, lust written all over his face. In response to his extremely explicitly reaction, she lifted her arms and placed her hands on her shoulders, and, tilting her head back she allowed her fingers to roam down her chest, up to the plunging neck line of her dress and further down towards her breasts.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she then moved her hands to the back of her dress and untied its lace tie, allowing the fabric to fall down her back, but still holding the front part with her hands, to cover her chest.

Ares was, exhilarated at that point,

When she finally rose from the chair, walking his way with long, languid steps, carelessly letting the dress fall on the floor, his heart nearly stopped. He was literally mesmerized by her perfect nude body; he would have killed right about anyone to have her.

The instant she bit her lower lip, and began fondling herself, he was on fire. It was all it took. He rose from that bed with the speed of light.

A wave of his hand was all it took for his own clothes to disappear. In a split second there was nothing left between their bodies, nothing but skin.

He was burning to make love to her, to claim her., to feel that he owned her….As he pressed his manhood against her leg, he felt her flinch, moaning lightly at the sensation.

He reclined a bit to run his tongue around her collarbone and up the side of her neck to, her ear. She smelled incredibly good…Jasmine…He simply adored that perfume and she knew it.

He then kissed her cheeks, exploring her eyes before he forcefully seized her lips, in a lust filled kiss. He savagely tightened his hold on her, and before she had any chance to react, he was already throwing her on the bed.

It didn't last long before he was on top her, and it was more than obvious even for the most inexperienced eyes that what he had in mind had nothing to do with innocence and romantic patience.

The instant she ran her fingers through his hair and her legs snaked around his waist, she knew she had unleashed the beast within him

Unlike other times, his tongue no longer slithered down her chest to her breasts, swirling around in small patterns, and it definitely failed to playfully trace her belly button, tasting lecherous the sweat on her body.

On the contrary, as she pulled him savagely by the hair, he could only resist for one more kiss with tongues frantically dueling for dominance.

The triumphant shout of her climax sent him headlong in his, while still kissing and biting her lips.

Completely exhausted, they soon evaded to Morpheus' dream land together. A faint smile could be still seen on their faces right before they drifted to sleep. .

TBC IN CHAPTER 3.....


	3. Padon

The morning sun came in from the widely open balcony doors, bathing the white room in an unnaturally bright, dazzling light.

Warm summer breeze blew the yellow curtains used to adorn the windows and the delicate smell of fresh flowers from the giant garden in the court-yard still lingered in the air. 

A long serving table was overflowing with an impressive measure of extremely various food. 

Despite being bummed out over the impending departure, our character's mood was light and buoyant just like the room they had entered.

Coming down the stairs, holding hands with Ares, Xena's light eyes began scanning the room almost immediately, and despite herself, she couldn't help escaping a very surprised "Wow!" as she spotted the large table full of foodstuff.

The God chuckled lowly at her childish reaction. All that time spent by his side, and he could still surprise her….that was a very good thing from his perspective.

With small, almost insecure steps, Xena followed behind the handsome God to the table, elegantly accepting the plate he handed her, and, contemplating the delicious food, she carefully selected a piece of barley cake, a hand full of grapes and a spoonful of eggs.

She was hungry that was for sure. She then shifted to the end of the table, pouring a cup of wine, and finally turning back to Ares with a half-smile.

To all appearances, she had no intention to take a sit though. Ares noticed that when she headed to the balcony door with the plate. As soon as she got there, she spotted a cast iron table, and, strolling over making sure to duck the colorful umbrella, - she plopped down in the comfortable chair.

She hungrily broke a corner off bread and taking a sip of wine, she tucked a few loose strands behind her ear. Nevertheless, the wind kept on irritatingly blowing them into her delicate face.

Ares smiled. One insignificant gesture of his hand was all it took for the wind to stop. She arched an eyebrow at him and smiled back lightly at his considerate thought.

"I have something I want to give you before you leave." he suddenly said, dropping his hand on the table and grasping her slender wrist, catching her azure eyes with his own chocolate ones.

He instantly felt the Warrior's arm stiffen, and, without losing eye contact, he brought his other arm down to softly caress her velvety skin.

"Don't worry, I promise you will like it" he added, successfully managing to calm her down.

Her hand jerked away from him though, crossing bare arms across a full chest despite of his best intentions. She didn't like surprises…. Not at all.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"I guess I do know a thing or two when it comes to you, my dear….." he answered, also sitting back in an identical pose, with a wide grin on his chiseled face.

Her full lips pursed.

"Well, I'll be the judge of that, now won't I?" she spat.

"I guess you will." he batted back at her, fully enjoying the little foreplay they were engaged in. In less than a split second, he had already gotten up, swaggering over to her side of the table, holding out his hand for her, pursing his lips.

After studying him for a few instants, Xena placed her hand into his. The God pulled her up from the chair, spun her around, wrapping his arms around her waist, bringing her close to his chest.

He simply loved the feeling of her skin against his.

"You ready for your gift, beautiful?"

He didn't wait for an answer though, for they were gone in a blue flash before she could even utter one word. .

By the time she realized what had happened, they were standing before Ares' personal stables in Sparta, snuggling in each other's arms. The moment he raised his arm and waved his hand, the stable doors swung open. Two short whistles was all it took, for a strikingly handsome stallion with a dark red coat and black mane to burst out the wooden doors, galloping around the corral, bucking, kicking and neighing wildly.

The Warrior glowed with delight, blue eyes shining like stars. A stunning smile flourished on her face while she was curiously admiring the creature's marvelous strength.

Overly excited by that surreal beauty she had before her eyes, Xena almost failed noticing something go over her head, and by the time she had turned to face her God, Ares had already dropped the end of an absolutely breathtaking necklace to her chest, obnoxiously admiring how it fitted snuggly between her breasts.

Fishing the amulet from its place, and suggestively rubbing his index along her nipple through the fine fabric of her dress, he held the jewel between his forefinger and thumb, looking back into her eyes:

"This Sweetheart, is a very special amulet."

There was no reaction from coming from the Warrior Princess' part so he simply continued:

"Since you are so defiant about being a Goddess right now, you'll have to wear this; it will bond you two together the stallion and you that is he made sure to add when he noticed her quizzical gaze.." Kind of like our bond, it will make him yours to control".

The protest that followed as she narrowed her icy blue eyes at him was more than vehement:

"You don't own or control me!"

A rough push was meant to strengthen her statement.

He just laughed at her savage outburst…He couldn't help noticing that she had a lot in common with that still untamed animal running like crazy behind the fence.

Her interest swiftly changed though. She soon turned her head towards her present again, and, observing his moves for a fraction of a second, she patiently waited until he passed by, and when time came, springing up, she sprinted full force on top of it, placing one firm hand on his back and grabbing a fist full of mane with the other, making sure to later entwine both of her hands in its coarse hair, squeezing her knees to his barrel.

The amulet dangling from her neck began to glow with the contact; a tingling sensation ran instantly through her body.

The steed tried to fight her at the beginning, bucking and rearing up, but he quickly lost ground, finally giving in.

In no time, Ares was also riding a horse of his own. They pranced out of the corral gate with the speed of lightening, racing across a fresh green meadow; colorful wild flowers littered the ground, and the soft sound of a waterfall close by only made everything look even more like a fairytale picture. .

Brining the war horses to a stop near the waterfall, the duo dismounted and casually strolled down the rocky path hand in hand.

The stallions wadded into the cool water for drink.

Also in desperate need for water, Xena knelt by the river, and, cupping her hands she splashed some water on her sweaty face, also getting a drink.

But a few feet away, casually leaning against a stump, Ares sat on the ground with his ankles crossed, admiring her. She was a sight to see, and he just couldn't get enough of her.

Rising from the water, she walked to him, and taking a sit between his spread legs, she leant against his chest. He instinctively encased her in his muscular arms.

No words were needed. Consequently, he just slid his tongue down the curve of her neck, licking the water droplets up from the fresh wash earlier.

Turning and straddling his legs, she pushed him back hard against the tree stump, and, looking deeply into rich brown eyes, she grabbed his face in her hands. Her tongue parted his lips, darting deep down his throat…

It was strange how he always had the impression that he controlled her when it was so obvious that it was the other way around….

Sliding her hands down his jaw, her fingers started to trace fine lines along his neck, dropping further down his chest and stopping at his waist where they began undoing his pants. It didn't last long until she slid her hand between skin and underclothes, ripping his vest off, and zealously lavishing his chest in kisses, bites and licks.

She felt him wiggling around yanking at his pants, forcing them down around his knees; She could already sense his firm hands traveling up her back, tugging anxiously at the laces, liberating her from the leathers, smoothly gliding his hands down to her outer thighs, lustrous touches trailing along down in between her legs. She involuntarily let out a wanting moan.

The moment she was just seconds away from her climax though, his iron like hands suddenly forced her ton shift position, and, clutching brutally her waist, he pushed her on the ground, and with him on top.

Minutes later, he was still sketching patterns in the perspiration covering her back, pushing back from her face the damp dark strands, breathing heavily, still making efforts to calm down.

They both let out a small sigh at the same time. It was time for her to go….

Now fully dressed, the God let out two short whistles and waited.

Not wandering too far away, they immediately heared hoof beats. In an amused voice Ares asked nuzzling her dark hair, inhaling the cinnamon aroma of her hair.

"Have you named him yet?"

"Yeah, Padon… it means ruler; to look upon in awe by others."

"Hmm…good choice. It fits him. There's another thing you need to know about him, though."

The object of their conversation pranced in front of them, causing them both to laugh.

"He's not a ….regular horse….He….uh…he can fly." he stammered, unsure of how she would react.

The Warrior didn't seem to flinch at the news.

Eyeing her suspiciously, he went on speaking

"I wanted you to have a way to get to Olympus without having to rely on me all the time, and someone to keep you safe while we're apart…..."

"I somehow thought you always keep an eye on me…?" she teased.

"I do….It's that "just in case that" option ….you know?"

She couldn't restrain that low chuckle, no matter what. He was so funny when he tried to protect her like that...As if he didn't know what she was capable of….

"I'm a big girl, Ares, I can take care of myself just fine!"

"Oh trust me, I'm well aware of that…" he joked, spinning her around and kissing her soundly on her full lips.

Mounting Padon together, Xena relaxed in his arms.

"Close your eyes and picture a place you want to go." he whispered.

Glancing back, she took a long look at his handsome face, and, giving him a smirk she closed her eyes and pictured a field outside of Macedon.

In c couple of minutes they were both dismounting in that very place.

The warrior glanced at the ground, digging her boot in the dirt. "Well I guess this is good-bye for a while huh?"

Lovingly caressing her face, he leaned in for a kiss. It was a soft, affectionate kiss that had nothing to do with the passionate, stormy ones shared minutes before.

Before he knew it, the God was staring blankly at the sky, clicking his tongue disapprovingly at the image of a disappearing Warrior Princess….

A burst of light later, he was gone too.


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of hooves beat on the ground and small clumps of dirt fly up behind him. Padon trotted across the green field and up the little incline before going onto the road.

Xena sat astride him and reached down to pat him on the neck. His soft fur was wet with sweat and he breathed heavily. "Don't worry boy we'll be there soon."

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and looked up at the sun, which was halfway up in the sky. "It's going to be another hot one." She grabbed her water skin from hanging on the saddle horn and took a long draw. Then she hooked it back and let it swing into place.

She glanced around her at all the trees that lined the road and tilted her head to heed the noises around her. Hearing nothing out the ordinary, she relaxed her body into the sway of the horse.

As her mind began to wander, she felt a little melancholy. She started to hum a little tune she had remembered from when she was a little girl and her mother would sing her to sleep.

A couple of candle marks ago, she and Ares had said their goodbyes. It was hard being apart; for both.

However, it had been awhile since she had checked in on her army and she had no choice after receiving the scroll from King Phillip.

A smile crossed Xena's face as she fondly remembered that day. It was a few days before the Ball when the scroll had arrived,

In the shade of a crop of trees, where the breeze blew through the leaves and rustled her hair, Xena lounged comfortably in a hammock. She and Ares had decided to take a few days off and visit the beach. 

Propped up on her elbow, she examined his fine form as he returned to the beach from a swim. Ares ran his fingers through his wet hair pushing it back from his face. The action sent droplets of water down his face, neck, and his muscled chest. The sun reflected in the drops of water causing a glistening effect. 

He became aware of her examination as he slowly walked up the beach towards her. He stood by the hammock with a smile full of mischief and a twinkle in his eye. He took one step back and shook his head vigorously, slinging water all over her. 

Amidst the screams and laughter, he attempted to climb into the hammock with her, but almost launched both of them to the ground. 

He finally succeeded with both in the hammock. Xena snuggled in his arms, feeling his cold skin from the water. She laid her head on his shoulder and dreamily chased the water droplets, on his muscled belly, with her index finger.

Xena decided it was a good time to show Ares the scroll. She reached over to get her canvas bag that was hanging from a low branch and pulled the scroll out. She placed it on his chest.

Ares looked at her for a minute, then picked it up and unrolled it. He took a minute to read it and peered back into her eyes. "You want to go don't you?" he asked.

Xena laid her head on his shoulder, then countered, "I have to, they are my responsibility." He rolled the scroll back up and gazed out at the ocean. "I could take care of this for you and you could just stay here with me."

Furious, she sat up almost throwing them to the ground again. "No! I told you I didn't want you to interfere with my army, or cause problems for us either. Besides, it's the only thing that reminds me of my mortality."

His hands went up in defense. "Ok, ok I know, I get it. I won't do a thing. Let's not talk about it anymore and just enjoy our time now."

With that, the God leapt up from the hammock and successfully dumped Xena to the ground on her rump She growled in mock anger, bounded from the ground, and chased Ares down the beach, both in uncontrollable laughter. 

A loud whistle breaks her out of her reverie. Recognizing the familiar warning of her approach, She smiled wickedly, clamped her knees, and clicked her tongue sending Padon into a fast gallop. The wall of defense was now in sight.

As Padon galloped closer to the imposing defender's wall, she glanced up at the watchtowers. She heard, more that saw, the red flags with the Kings signet golden lions snapping in the wind. The same set of statutes were above the entranceway to the unyielding Iron Gate with Macedon tucked safely inside. "It's good to be back." The warrior mused.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The young Captain walked across the army compound behind the defenders' walls, his dirty blonde hair shone in the bright afternoon sun. Rocks and dirt crunched under his boots, while sweat rolled down his back.

He strode the path, along with two comrades on both sides, the one on the left was in the middle of a racy story. The group was exhausted, hot, and sweaty after an arduous workout on the training field, so they were heading to the river for a swim.

Perdicus held up his hand and halted in his tracks, stopping his friend in mid-sentence of his story. "Shh! Did you hear that?"

They all went quiet to listen; the blowing breeze brought the detailed whistles to their ears.

Anxiously Perdicus stood to his full height and regarded his friends. "The Generals coming! Everyone to their posts now!"

He took off, moving faster than before, to the gates. "Come on guys looks like it's time to get to work!" his fellow soldiers were hot on his heels.

The group split up at the gate; the regular soldiers lining up with the others while Perdicus tottered over to stand next to the other captain. The other captain was a few feet away giving orders to the soldiers that were running around behind him.

Perdicus studied the older man apprehensively, "Did the soldiers on the wall say anything about what kind of mood she was in?"

Bart eyed the gate and shook his head. "No, but is she ever in anything except a bad one?"

He rolled his eyes, and stood at attention, when he heard the whistles again and the clanking of the Iron Gate opening. The soldiers simultaneously went down on one knee, a fist to their chest.

She was a stunning dark-haired warrior, bedecked in her General's uniform. Her body was covered in leathers, her upper body shielded in form-fitting armor. Her lower body was covered in leather pants and boots. There was a General's insignia in a yellow shroud embroidered across her chest. General's stars were in vertical fashion on her armbands, classifying her rank.

She proceeded through the gates on her beautiful red steed. Padon instantly promenaded in front of the soldiers, reared up on two legs, and gave a fierce nicker, before standing on all fours again.

A pronounced silence filled the air; nobody breathed. A fierce stare studied the group of soldiers kneeling. With a disapproving snort, she slid off Padon, handing the reins to a stable-hand standing nearby.

The stallion intentionally bit the boy on the shoulder, eliciting a loud cry from him. Padon neighed loudly and stamped his front hooves, deliberately crushing the boy's toes.

The boy, hopped around holding his crushed foot with one hand and his shoulder with the other.

Xena, mildly amused, with rage in her dark eyes, snatched the reins back up. She turned and immediately backhanded the boy. "If you can't handle my horse I can find someone else who can!"

"Yes Brigadier … I mean no Brigadier!" The boy stammered as he reached out and accepted the reins back. He held them by the end, staying as far away from this ornery critter as possible. The boy limped back to the stables located by the training grounds leading the way while Padon trying to bite him on the ass.

Entertained by Padon, a small smile graced the General's lips for a fraction of a second, but was gone before she turned to face the still kneeling troops. "Well, looks to me like you boys have slacked off in your training in my absence." Sweeping down the line in front of her men, she stopped in front of the captains, eyeing them shrewdly. "Captains, get these soldiers on the training fields immediately!"

Perdicus saluted her, fist to chest; "Yes brigadier!" immediately he shouted the orders to the men.

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She had been leaning against the wall by the gates since she heard the warring whistles. With one hand behind her back, and the other holding a picnic basket, she propped her foot up on the wall. She intended on having a picnic with Perdicus. However, now, she was delighted as she watched her best friend stomp down the line of soldiers.

She waited calmly for her to finish her tirade on the troops. It had been awhile since they had seen each other and she wanted to spend some time catching up. Once the soldiers had been dismissed, Gabrielle's eyes flickered up to watch them march by in front of her. She pushed some hair from her face and sighed as she pushed off the wall, and adjusted her knee-length green skirt.

She placed the basket on the ground, as she intended to retrieve it later, and hurriedly trotted over to Xena. She came up behind her, but still stayed out of the danger zone of the General. One hard lesson she had learned; being the victim of a few hits for being careless.

She knew better now, "Well, hello there stranger. It's about time you finally came back to see an old friend!"

Detecting the familiar voice behind her, she spun around to face the blonde. A huge grin spread across her face when finding her chum, who was now standing in front of her.

"Hey yourself!" Xena enveloped her into a warm embrace. After observing the dark circles under sea green eyes, she asked "King Phillip, keeping you busy scribing for him?"

Shaking her head, "No, actually I'm working for Reeve Hristos; recording his meetings with the aristocrats, plus taking care of a husband and a home. It's a tedious job." Gabrielle let out a tired sigh. "But it sounds like to me, maybe, you're going out on campaign again and may need a scribe to come along."

Guffawing , and wrapping her long arm around the bard's shoulders, they moved down the flagstone street towards Macedon. "Well yes, I guess it is your lucky day then? I received a scroll from King Phillip requesting my presence. It seems a few of the cities he resides over are having a bit of trouble with a warlord named Canis."

Gabrielle draped her arm around her friend's waist "Hmm... interesting. Tell me more…like when do we leave?"

Perdicus stood in front of his men as he took them through various sword drills. He felt miffed because of the accusation their General had made. She though they had slacked off on their training, but, in truth, they have been active every day.

He stopped to wipe the sweat running down his forehead and glanced up at the sky. He looked around the fields, half-expecting to find his wife waiting on him so they could go on that picnic they talked about this morning.

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He called to his men. "Let's stop and get a bite to eat, it's time for noon meal." The men looked at him exhausted and agreed. Perticus took off, walking up the worn path towards the mess hall a few yards away. The others followed suit as he took one last look around before he entered the building. "I guess when Xena's around I'm easily forgotten." He thought to himself, then turned and followed his friends in the door.

As they quietly chatted with each other, they arrived in the village while people scurried around them. The villagers were going in and out of shops; and wagons rattling along in the street.

The booming voice of a vender caught Gabrielle's attention. She patted Xena on the arm with her free hand, "I'll be right back." The warrior stopped, leaned back against the post nearest to her, and observed her friend as she leapt off the sidewalk onto the street, straight to the sweet cakes vender.

She smiled after her friend then glanced around Macedon. Though it was not as large as Athens, it was not a little village by any means. Under the reign of King Phillip, the small city had prospered into what it was today.

A tall slender man abruptly came out of the shop behind her and backed into her. The bump brought Xena out of her musings and knocked cakes out of his arms.

The beautiful, dark headed woman snagged them out of the air before they hit the ground. The man's dark eyes grew to the size of dinars as he stared in awe. " Th…thank you." As he regarded her beauty, his face blushed red with embarrassment. Soon his eyes affixed to the ground where he was shuffling his boots.

She shoved the packages back at the man. "You should pay more attention of whom you're running in to!"

The man took the package in one hand and wiped his dirty, sweaty palm on his britches repeatedly. Then he held it out to the warrior in greeting.

"I'm Sam, by the way…and you are?" He nervously gazed into azure eyes as he lowered the hand back by his side.

Impaling blue globes grimly studied him. She was uninterested in potentially adding another admirer, whose only dream was of a chance for her attentions.

Gabrielle walked back from her trip to the vendor with two sweet cakes in her approached the pair and caught the look on the warrior's face. She quickly advanced between them halting a probable fist, or kick, in unmentionable body parts.

She gripped her friend's shoulder after she had squinted a warning with her green eyes. She spun towards the young man, "Hi. I'm Gabrielle and this is my best friend Xena. It's nice to meet you."

Sam shook hands with the blonde haired woman, but he never did abandon his googling of the alluring dark-haired women.

Xena grunted disapprovingly, yet found herself astonished by the audacity of this nitwit. Her throat cleared loudly behind the bard. "I'll catch up with you later Gabrielle, I have things I need to take care of." The warrior swung back and walked away from them.

Gabrielle sighed inwardly and stuck her tongue out at the retreating women.

The young woman marched along the flagstone streets; townsmen stopped what they were doing to take in the sight of the gorgeous woman.

Xena nodded her head, in greeting, but she did not feel overly friendly. She turned on the crossroad that led to the castle gates, then hurried up the pavestone wanting to find out more about this warlord, Canis.

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Gabrielle walked back down the path towards the gates to retrieve her basket of food. The day was getting hotter and making her long hair stick to the back of her neck and face. She smiled to herself, that man Sam asked me a million questions about Xena. She mused to herself and shook her head. Well looks like Perdicus might be busy for a while so I guess I will go home and maybe work in my flowerbed.

Gabrielle stooped to pick up her basket and glanced over towards the barracks; she heard shouts and swords clashing. She shook her head and stood back up to head for the road and towards the community center where they live.

Along the street, through the bustling town, she exchanged a few waves of greetings with the townsfolk. She came to the crossroads leading to her house, taking a left turn.

Their small home was quaint with a gate and short pebble path leading to the stairs and door. Once inside, she went directly into the kitchen for a drink of water. The drink was cool and soothing to her dry, parched throat. She replaced the glass on the counter before she went out the back door and onto the diminutive deck to retrieve her garden box. Inside were her small tools that helped her to keep her garden in outstanding condition. She walked down the steps, into the backyard, where her afternoon of calming work awaited.

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The General approached the gates to the castle, and noticed that the guards were not at their posts. She stooped down on her knee in the tall grass, seeking them out. Finally, she located them; one was leaning against the wall and the other was standing a few feet in front of him with his back to her.

To teach a lesson, she crawled noiselessly through the tall grass until she was just inches to the one with his back turned. She stood up behind him and seized him by the hair, jerking his head back. She drew her dagger out of its hidden sheath and flipped it in her hand so that she was holding it to his throat.

She leaned into him, close to his ear, and in a menacing voice said, "Want to know what happens to boys who don't pay attention at their job?"

She tipped the blade up to put the point to his skin, pressing a little to draw blood and to make her point.

Frantically, the boy leaning against the wall fell to his knee, with his fist to chest. "Brigadier! Please forgive our stupidity; we didn't see any harm in taking a short break." Nervously, he cast his eyes to the ground.

The women released the boy and violently shoved him to the ground next to the other soldier. "You're relieved of duty. Report to Captain Bart, profess your pitiful excuses to him, and tell him that you two have kitchen duty until further notice."

The two soldiers rose from the ground, saluted, and went in search of the captain.

Xena stood by the palace gates as she watched the two soldiers. She did not hear her aide's approach until she heard his familiar voice. "I tell you… some of these soldiers are nothing but trouble."

, Xena was ready to take someone's head off but halts in mid swing as she rotated around. She scrutinized the small blond-haired person with the unusual hazel eyes. "Rags, I could have killed you!

She came out of her attack-stance and crossed her arms over her chest. "You've been around me long enough to know not to sneak up behind me like that."

Rags visually cringed at what could have happened and looked at the ground. "Agreed," He said with a nervous laugh.

Xena rolled her eyes and clasped him on the shoulder. The action made him look her in the eyes again. "Go find Captain Perdicus and tell him I need replacement guards for the palace gates."

He acknowledged her with a concurring nod and a small smile before he took off to the barracks. The tall warrior turned and headed through the gates of the castle, back to her original destination.

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The road through the gardens was peaceful. On either side, rolling hills of green grass, and shrubbery, lay as far as the eye could see. A giant fountain of cupid, spitting water from his mouth, was situated in the middle of hedges, which were shaped like some sort of animal or another. "I wonder if ol' Cupie knows about that. I'll have to ask him next time I'm home; I bet he'll get a real kick out it." She thought to herself with a laugh deep in her throat.

At last, Xena reached the castle doors. A servant stepped out to greet her."General, my lord has expected you, please follow me."

The older man led her through the entryway and down a decorative hallway that ended with a door at the end. He slid open the doors revealing an extravagantly decorated office, a mahogany desk set in the middle of the room, and a couple of comfortable, straight back chairs and rows of bookshelves.

The General stepped in and settled in the straight back chair waiting for the King, her eyes wandering around the room.

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The man jogged down the hallway, out of breath, as his long robes tangled in his legs almost tripping him. Sweat glistened on his wrinkly forehead. He stood in front of the door, took a hanky out of his jacket pocket, and gingerly wiped the dripping sweat off his face. Then he smoothed the front of his wrinkled robe, and ran his fingers through his blond hair.

He took a deep breath, then he slid the door open to the room and stepped inside.

TBC IN CHAPTER FIVE...

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	5. Chapter 5

Phillip exhales a breath of air he's been holding since he was told she was here. He shuts the door to the room and eagerly turns to face the chamber. His eyes catch sight of her form, nonchalantly lounging in a chair with her back facing him.

He adjusts his robe and clasps his hands together. Then he continues across the room to where she sits. Her head snaps towards him as the sound of his boots scuff against the timber floor.

He gasps when their eyes met. Gods I almost forgot what a beautiful blue her eyes are. "I'm glad you're finally back. It's been awhile." He holds his hand out to her in greeting.

Xena grins at the man's obvious nervousness and places her hand in his. "Yes, it has been too long." The caress of his thumb on her skin left a trail of goose bumps that lit a flame within her.

When his soft lips graze her hand in a gentle kiss, the blaze burnt out of control. He entwined her hand in his and with bedroom eyes explores her beautiful face. "Would you care for a drink? I have some wine."

Xena shifts in her chair and stretches out her legs. "Sure don't mind if I do." She watches him cross over to his desk, as she waits for her drink.

She takes the opportunity to analyze him as he stands in front of her. Her blue eyes wander the length of his body. She determines that his blonde hair was longer than the last time she saw him.

Phillip circles around and faces the desk. He grabs the bottle and as he senses her examination, he smiles to himself. He slowly pours the drinks, permitting her time to complete her inspection, trusting she likes what she sees.

When he finishes, Phillip spins around with a knowing look on his face, then he reaches out and hands her the drink. He leans back on his desk and observes her.

Xena takes the drink and relaxes back in her chair. She places her elbow on the armrest and crosses her long legs, "So let me in on this 'Warlord Canis'." She sips her wine while looking at the King expectantly.

Phillip takes a swallow from his own mug, "Well, we did receive a report this morning from our scouts." He lifts his hand and brushes his long blonde bangs out his eyes, then continues. "Apparently, he's a leader of a large army and is heading towards the mountains." Pausing, and taking another mouthful of his wine, he resists the urge to touch her.

She swishes the wine around in her mouth and swallows. "Do you know where they come from?" She guesses he probably didn't.

The king glances at the beautiful woman. Reaching over and grabbing the flask to refill his cup, he said, "No, we have yet to discover that. But we do know they came by ship and are probably working for someone else with a lot of coin." Holding the flask out indicating a refill, he stands to refill her cup after seeing her nod.

"I'm most positive you are very capable of taking care of the warlord." Returning to his early spot on his desk and replacing the flask. His eyes once again fall on the woman.

Xena drains what was left in her mug. "Yeah, I don't think he will be much of a problem." She elevates from her chair and takes a step towards the man to place her mug on the desk. "I think the problem can be dealt with before they start preying on our smaller towns." She stands to her full height; even closer to him now, she gazes into his eyes. "Thanks for the drink."

The King focuses on her expression. He lifts his hand and brushes his knuckles softly down her cheek, then along her jaw, grasping her chin.

She inclines her body towards him. The young man seizes her lips and wraps his arms around her waist. Pulling her closer to stand between his legs, their kiss grows deeper and out of control. Her mind starts whirling as she slides her fingers through his hair.

He slowly lies back on the desk, gently pulling her with him into a straddle across his mid-section. Phillip slips his hand from her waist to the laces on her leathers, quickly losing them. Slipping his hands inside, he slides them down her soft skin.

His tongue slides down the pulse point of her neck to her chest. Then he places fevering kisses along the tops of her breasts, covering every inch of bare skin he could reach.

Suddenly her mind snaps back into reality, comprehending where this was leading to. She puts her hands on his chest and swiftly sits herself up. She was still straddling him when she decided to recede to the floor.

He sits up, one elbow on top the desk, with a muddled look in his eyes.

"I've got to go." She whispers as she spins around to the door and leaves in a flurry.

He watches her run out with a perplexed expression on his face.

The warrior stops outside the door and slides it closed, then leans back against the wall. She lifts her finger tracing her lips, still feeling the tingle of that sensational kiss.

After a couple of seconds, she kicks off the wall and continues down the hall feeling more confusion than ever. "Maybe I need a good work out to clear my head." With that thought, she heads for the training grounds at the barracks.

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As the two soldiers walk down the road to their houses, their long shadows cast down in front of them and rocks crunching under their boots. The two men were both fair-haired and medium height; though one was a bit shorter than the other.

"You know, Perdicus." The shorter of the two, Bart, says as they continue along the road. "It was great seeing the General today." He side-steps and kicks a rock in his path. "She sure looked stunning up on that horse."

"I do have to agree with you there." Perdicus nods his head. "But haven't you learned anything since being her captain?" He stops in the road in front of his house. "She can also be a real bitch most of the time." He waves at the man. "I'll see you tomorrow." Perdicus heads for the gate leading to his house.

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Perdicus steps inside his house, his nose immediately recognizes the smell of chicken soup.

Hearing the door open, Gabrielle appears in the room wiping her hands on her apron. "Hey sweetheart. How was your day?" she pads across the room to her husband.

He wraps his arms around his wife and kisses her on the cheek. "You mean since the daughter of Hades came into town?" He walks to the couch in front of the stone fireplace and plops down. Then he props his foot up on the low table in front of him and unties his boots, removing them.

Gabrielle stands in place with her hands on her hips. "She is not that bad!"

He gets up from the couch to build a fire. "Honey, then I guess maybe we know two different people." When a nice fire blazes, he sits on the rug on the floor.

Perdicus chuckles and looks up at Gabrielle. "Did you not see her backhand that stable boy today?"

She shuffles her feet, leans back on one leg, and crosses her arms to her chest. "Yes I did. Sometimes, I'd have to admit, she does have a slight temper." She points her thumb towards the kitchen. "Meals ready anytime you're ready to eat."

Perdicus rises from the floor, strolls over and puts an arm around his wife, and they walk together to the kitchen.

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Xena walks through the crowd in the kitchen at the castle. She dodges the workers that are running around, busy filling crates with supplies for the army.

She spies her aide waving at her. Rags makes his way through the people towards her. "Brigadier!" he waves the scroll in his hand to get her attention. "I'm glad that I was able to catch you before you left." They move over into a corner out-of-the-way of the workers.

"What is it Rags? Everything's going smoothly here." She snatches the scroll out of his hand and scans it.

"Yes Brigadier it is. However, there is another matter that needs your attention."

I really hate this part of my job. She exhales blowing her dark bangs from her eyes. Xena clenches the scroll in a tight fist and thumps the aide in front of her on top of the head.

"So tell me what it is you need." She was in a hurry and didn't want to deal with this now.

He seemed a little irritated by the obvious display of disrespect, but for apparent reasons, kept it to himself. "It's the wagons! The men at the stables won't release them."

She rubs her forehead with her palm, God why do I have to take care of everything myself? "Then tell them I give the ok." She pokes him in the chest with the scroll in her hand, then takes off walking towards the back door that leads to outside.

Rags takes the scroll and tries to fall in-step with her, but he runs into some of the workers blocking his path. "Brigadier! If you please! I've told them that much, but they want to hear it from your mouth not mine."

Xena, still retreating towards the door, sticks her hand up in the air to answer. "Alright I'll take care of it." She heads out the door, shutting it behind her.

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As Xena walks down the path, her boots kick up dust. She opens the pouch on her tool belt around her waist, searching for the key to the hidden door in the castle wall. She unlocks the door and passes through letting the door slam shut behind her.

Xena's boots make a swishing sound through the long grass as she trots down the small incline into the glade. Lying before her were two paths.

After a minute of consideration she commences down the one on the left that will lead to the stables. The other one, she would venture down later when she was ready to spar with her soldiers.

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The day is almost at an end as Xena treks down the long, dusty path. Beads of perspiration run down her forehead onto her face. Finally, she enters a group of trees, Thankful for the shade they would give. She realizes, this is the last leg of the journey before she reaches the stables. In no big hurry, she pauses to rest against one of the trees.

Xena unhooks her water skin from her belt and takes a long draw of water. The last few rays of the sunlight show off something, catching her eye. She hooks the water skin back on her belt and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

She investigates the general area, catching another reflection from the sunlight by an old log just a few feet away. She crouches down in the tall grass to look at it.

Finally she stumbles upon what looks like a necklace of some sort. She brings it closer for inspection and gasps at the image on the pendant. It suddenly brings back recollections of a very bad memory from her distant past…

TBC IN CHAPTER SIX...


	6. Chapter 6

Xena slumped up against a tree as she studied the pendant in her palm. It was just as she remembered it looking so many years ago. She fingered the pewter eagle's crest and underneath it bore the letters SPQR; those letters alone left little doubt where it had come from.  
She seized it by the black leather cord and dropped it into her pouch, and then she hoisted herself up off the ground. She took off in a jog back down the littered path of twigs and leaves, until she came to the clearing, then she slowed down into a stride to catch her breath.  
**********8  
They entered the small kitchen and Gabrielle crossed over to the stove. "So since Xena's arrival was so terrible, according to you," she picked up the bowls and dipped the soup from the pot on the stove, "how did the rest of your day go?"  
Perdicus chuckled, "Since we were accused of slacking off," he sat down at the table and placed the napkin in his lap, "we had an extra hour of sword training."  
Gabrielle clicked her tongue and said, "How was she supposed to know that your guys trained every day?" She made her way to the table and sat his bowl down in front of him. Then she took her seat across from him, "Give her a break she's been gone for a while." She blew on a spoon full of soup and tasted it.  
"Yeah, ever since her and Ares had finally decided to get serious." He wiped his mouth with his napkin and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "She's beautiful and can have anyone she wanted why choose him?"  
Gabrielle laughed and covered her mouth to keep from spitting her mouthful of soup out. "Perdicus, maybe she loves him!" She wiped her mouth and chin with her napkin.  
"Well anyway, I was ordered to report to King Phillip first thing in the morning for some secret job and to bring some help with me." He picked up his bowl and finished off his soup. "That's all they would tell me about it too."  
"Hmm sounds interesting." She finished her own bowl off, "I wonder what that's all about." She set her bowl down and with her head in her hand she and looked at him suspiciously.  
"Like I said that's all they told me." He mimicked his wife's pose and smiled, "I guess we will find out tomorrow." He gestured with his hand, "Since we're finished with our meal, are we ready to do the dishes?"  
"Yes." She said with a giggle and started collecting the dishes while Perdicus headed to the living room to get the hot water from the fireplace.  
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Xena commenced into a jog again as the path lead closer to the training field. She noticed the sound of the sword fighting had ceased. When her course ran parallel with the field, she will come into view.  
She bend her head forward and a smile crossed her face. As the hoots and whistles from the men reach her ears, she raised her hand in greeting and continued down the lane.  
A little, further down the route, where the training field ended and the horse coral began, Xena spied Padon casually grazing. She sounded off two short and one long signal with her mouth.  
Padon's head jerked up when he recognized the sounds. He spotted Xena and instantly speed off in her direction. When he reached the railing, he fell into step beside her as she jogged down the other side.  
Xena turned her head and smiled at the horse. "Hey there, boy." Padon responds with a whinny as they continued down the trail.  
Arriving at the corner of the boundary, Xena lean against the enclosure and rested her elbows on top and propped her booted foot on the lower rail. Padon lifted his head and nudged her in the chest. Xena reached out and scratched him on the nose as she dug into her pouch and produced an apple slice, holding it out in her palm.  
Padon eagerly snagged it out of her hand and munched on it.  
"See you later boy." Xena shook her head and laughed, then resumed her way to the barn.  
********8  
Gabrielle strolled into the living area and dropped down on the couch. She grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her. She removed her scroll from the low table and scanned the writing.  
"There, the kitchen's all clean." Perdicus said as he entered the room and made his way to the fireplace. He grabbed a log and threw it on the dying fire. Turning to his wife, who sat on the couch, he strides over to her and takes a seat. He watched her for a few minutes, and then snatched the scroll she was reading out of her hand.  
Before she could start to protest, he captured her lips with his. He slid his hands up her arms to her chest and unbuttoned her blouse. He glides the now unbutton blouse down her arms and threw it on a low table in front of the couch.  
He grabbed Gabrielle's ankles and yanked her down onto her back, then lowered himself closer to her and nuzzled her ear. "You smell so good, but…" He jerked up to look into her eyes. "Do you know what time it is?" he watched her shake her head with a look of suspicion in her eyes. He raised up straddling her, effortlessly pinning her down.  
He put her arms under his legs and held his hands in the air. Wiggling his fingers, he said, "Ready or not here I come!"  
Gabrielle struggled under his weight. "Perdicus!" She tried to be serious, but cannot help but laugh. "You wouldn't dare!"  
"Oh, wouldn't I." He launched his fingers into her sides tickling her everywhere, making her kick and scream so much they fell off the couch into a pile on the floor.  
They lie next to each other on the floor laughing. Gabrielle rolled over on her side so they are face to face, "You are so evil."  
Perdicus reached up and cupped her face. "And you are so beautiful." He pulled her face down and kissed her lips.  
They pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes. "I love you," Gabrielle broke the silence first.  
"I love you too." He breaks into a big smile, "You ready for bed?"  
He rose from the floor pulling Gabrielle up with him into his arms. The couple hugged for a bit longer and with their arms wrapped around each other head off to bed.  
********8  
Xena loomed in the doorway of the stables, sporadically blinking her eyes to adapt to the dim light. The only light in the barn came off the oil lamps that hung from long hooks along the walls. The warrior heard a loud whinny from a nearby stall.  
She glanced over and saw Padon, standing there, looking at her. "What, are you looking for? More apples, huh boy?" Xena walked by the stall to the other side of the barn, where she stuck her head in the doorway of a small room. The smell of old hay assaulted her nose and made her eyes water.  
She observed the sparse furnishings. Her eyes traveled across the room finally spying a small desk in the corner with a little man sat hunched over it.  
She cleared her throat to get his attention, "Whose head do I need to bust before my aide can get some cover wagons?" Bolting from his chair the man turned around in shock.  
"Who in hades do you think you are sneaking up and scaring me half to death?" He said while placing his hands on his hips.  
Xena entered the room and took a big step from the door. The lantern on the wall illuminated her form as she stood to her full height.  
"Oh damn!" he started apologizing profusely. "I am so sorry, general. I didn't know it was you."  
The general folded her arms across her chest, "My aide tells me that you won't let him get the cover wagons ready for the army to leave." She arched an eyebrow at him.  
"Yes ma'am, I uh…" He gulped and ran his fingers through his graying brown hair. "Tell your aide he can come down and have as many wagons as he needs."  
Xena raised her hand and snapped her fingers. "You go tell my aide he can have them." In addition, she spun around to leave.  
Returning to town from the stables, the warrior slowly walked the cobblestone road. She noticed that there were fewer people this time. She looked up at the sky and the sun was slowly descending behind the mountains. Xena realized it was early in the evening, so everyone was probably in his or her houses for mealtime.  
She came to the thoroughfare that lead to her own home and headed down it. She scanned the petite sandstone domiciles that dwell on both sides of the road. The smell of wood, burning from the chimneys on their thatch roofs, filled the air and reached the warrior's nose.  
The lanterns' lights glowed in the windows. She pictured the little families inside, sitting down and eating their meals together and relaxing after a long day of hard work.  
She pushed through the undersized gate in the fence of the tiny courtyard of her home. She paused to analysis her small flat. She thought how diminutive and somber it was to her home with Ares' on Mount Olympus.  
With that thought in her mind, Xena mounted the steps to the front porch. She went into the front door and abruptly halted just inside. Her eyebrows rose under the dark bangs in surprise.  
Xena smiled as she reflected on her best friend's thoughtfulness. A welcoming sight greeted her first night at home. A roaring fire in the fireplace and the warm glow of the salt lamps filling the rooms.  
Xena padded over to the fireplace to start some tea. Then she spotted the low table in front of the fireplace that was full of foodstuffs.  
Leave it to Gabrielle to think of everything. She mused and noted that there were settings for two people at the table. She deliberated on if she should call Ares.'  
Xena finally made her mind up. She called out, "Ares!" then she moved to the mantelpiece above the fireplace where she kept the box of herbs for the tea.  
The warrior was just about ready to grasp the arm that held the pot of water over the fire. When a flash of blue light lit the room behind her. Without a second thought, she continued with what she was doing.  
She took the rag and grabbed the pot that was over the fire and continued to the low table. "Hi. That didn't take long; you weren't in the middle of something were you?"  
Xena poured the boiling water into the cups of tealeaves to steep. She replaced the teapot on the fireplace arm and took a seat on the pillows spread out around the low table.  
The god was already sitting at the table and had observed Xena quietly. "No, I've visited Dite at her place. Home's just different without you there."  
Xena did not miss the endearment in his statement. She smiled fondly as she handed him a plate. She then took one for herself and scanned over the food.  
She picked up a couple of chicken legs and some leeks, and then noticed Ares do the same. The god took a mouthful of his pear. "So how's everything going here? Find out what ole' Phillip wanted you to do?" Ares then swallowed his mouthful of pear. He glanced at Xena expectantly while he took a drink of tea. "What? Is it that bad?"  
She finished off her meal then proceeded to get up to pour more tea. "No, it's not too bad. It just might take a while to resolve."  
Xena grabbed the pot of water from the fireplace and took it and the box of herbs back to the table, than the warrior inquired Ares. "You didn't have anything to do with this warlord problem they're having, did you?"  
The warrior patiently waited for his answer. As she deposited herb in both cups, and poured the boiling water over them, she glanced at the god and raised her eyebrows in question. "Did you?"  
Waiting for an answer, she lifted her cup from the table. Xena made her way to the couch behind the low table. She plopped down reclining back to study the ceiling.  
Ares carried his tea in his hand and dropped down beside her on the couch. "No, I didn't sic the warlord on your precious king." Taking a sip of his tea, he continued. "For the life of me; I don't know why you even care about these mortals."  
He leaned his head back on the cushion of the couch. The couple's heads turn and they stared at each other. She rolled her eyes at him.  
"I don't know Ares what do you think, I; my friends and family are mortals!" Xena reached out, put a hand on his thigh, and sighed. He placed his hand on hers.  
"You know, all you have to say is that you're ready to take your rightful place as my Enyo." He squeezed her hand and winked.  
The warrior puckered her lips in thought and considered his statement. "I understand… It has been a long day Ares. You ready for bed?"  
Nodding in agreement, Ares stood and offered his hand to pull her up to him. The couple wrapped their arms around each other and passionately kissed. They stared into each other's eyes.  
Ares lovingly combs his fingers through her hair. "I love you." He kissed her eyes and nose as he waited for her response.  
A small smile crossed her lips as she answered. "Yeah, me too." They clasp hands and headed off together to the bedroom.  
*******8  
In the wee hours of the morning, a young woman suddenly sat up in bed holding her stomach. She climbed quickly to the floor, with a hand over her mouth. Then she rushed to the bathing chamber.  
She bent over the chamber pot and emptied her stomach. A man came up behind her, reached out, and pulled back her hair. With his other hand, he held out wet linen.  
"Thank you." She said as she took the wet linen and stood to face the man. With their eyes fixed on each other, she snuggled up into his arms as he wrapped them around her.


	7. Chapter 7

The scrambled eggs fell on the plate between the sun-dried grapes and figs. Gabrielle spins around, replacing the pan she was cooking in on the stove. Then she grabs a handful of the dried bread crumbs that were sitting next to the plates.

She leans back against the counter and pours them into her hungry mouth. A smile appears on her face as she listens to Perdicus happily whistling in the next room. "Hey honey, meal's ready!" she calls in a sing-song voice.

Gabrielle wipes her hands on her apron and lifts the plates off the cabinet and places them back on the small wooden table. Then takes a seat and places the napkin in her lap. She grabs some grapes from her plate and shoves them in her mouth as she watches Perdicus enter the kitchen.

"Good morning sweetheart!" He murmurs lovingly, taking a seat at the table, before her. He smiles at his wife and starts eating. "Are you going into town today to see the healer?"

"That's the plan." she answers, taking a sip of milk. "What are your duties for the day?" Gabrielle nibbles a fig from her plate. "I'd like to be able to find you afterwards."

"I have to report to the King, remember he has some mystery gift he wants delivered this morning." Perdicus answers, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and laughing implying.

"Oh yeah, I can't help wondering what that's all about…." she giggles at his silly face, girlishly covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'll just come to the barracks when I finish what I have to do in town ok?"

"Sure, I should be there by then."

Having said that, he finishes the food on his plate and, dropping the napkin nearby, he stands up, getting ready to leave. He doesn't forget to kiss her on top of the head on his way out though. "I've got to get going, see you later."

"Yeah, sure see you later.

She sighs and glances at the dirty dishes left on the table as he walks out the door.

XXX

Xena groans as she rolls on her side, away from Ares. She finally sits up in bed with a sigh and grabs a piece of the sprigs of mint that lies on the bedside table and pops it in her mouth. She spares Ares a glance when he lets out a loud snore.

She smiles wickedly to herself as she slides back to bed next to him. Propping up on one elbow on the pillow, she watches him sleep for a few seconds before raising her other hand to tickle his ear.

Ares snorts a few times and then finally rolls over to face her. "What do you think you're doing?" he asks placidly, without bothering to open his eyes to look at her.

She slides down on her pillow so she's face to face with him. She cleverly lets her fingers glide down his face, tracing his handsome features. Her fingers travel down his neck, all the way down to his muscled chest where she playful pulls his chest hair.

"Oww." he yelps as he grabs her hand to stop her.

His eyes are fully opened now, staring at her harshly. He lifts up on his elbow.

"So you want to play, huh?" he says in a laugh as he playfully rolls over her, looking down into her eyes, smiling mischievously as he parts her legs with his own, sliding between them and pressing into her.

He takes it slow, kissing her eyes and running his tongue across her lips. His other hand glides down her side and grabs the end of her shift, raising it slightly as he moves his body to bring it up to her belly.

Her head tilts back as she lets out a loud groan as he finally enters her. She gripes his shoulders and digs her nails into his skin as she slides them down his arms. Xena wraps her arms around his back and pulls him down to her as they kiss.

XXX

A smile crosses Perdicus' face as he stops in front of a store.

"Hang on guys I'll be right back." he briefly address the soldiers that were accompanying him on his way to the castle.

He enters the small furniture store and immediately crosses the room to the big picture window. He reaches out and runs his hands across the smooth wooden rails and watches as it rocks back and forth at his touch. "Perfect! Gabrielle will love it! "

He looks around and waves at the store keeper. "How much is this?" he asks, pointing to the baby cradle he was admiring.

The store keeper looks over the cradle and studies the man before answering. "15 dinars is about right." he answers.

Perdicus wrinkles his forehead and looks over the cradle again. "Can you hold it for me until payday?"

The older man puts his hand to his chin and strokes him beard. "You're a captain in our general's army?" he had definitely noticed the captain's uniform when Perdicus came into the store.

"Yes, yes I am." Perdicus replies with a smile and stands back up to leave. "I'll be back for it soon." He waves at the man and exits the shop.

XXX

"Ahh yes! This is great! " Xena exclaims as she sinks down in the warm water of the bath tub. She rests her head on the side and looks up into the God's face.

"I'm glad you approve." he says seductively as he squats down beside the tub behind her and leans in closer to whisper into her ear.

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon?"

She closes her eyes trying to relax her body and settle her upset stomach again.

"Sorry Babe, I do have obligations I need to tend too."

He puts his hand in the water and playfully splashes her face. "There's a battle starting as we speak, I have to go observe."

"Hey, watch it!" she protests, splashing him back and turning around to study him. "You're coming back later, right?"

He leans over the tub and exchanges a kiss with her and nods his head then disappears in a burst of light.

"Ok see you later than." Xena says to the empty spot the God once stood. She leans over the side of the tub and unfolds the linen that was lying on the floor.

She takes a piece of the mint she hid there and pops it in her mouth. Then she relaxes back against the side of the tub again. "I can't be getting sick, we're fixing to go on campaign."

Thinking to herself. "I guess I'll go see the healer at the barracks, and maybe he has something that will help."

Her mind made up, she grabs a rag and the piece of soap on the table next to the tub and begins washing.

XXX

"I'll think I'll take that one, on the right." Gabrielle points at the chickens tied to the racks hanging from the top of the vendor's carts in town.

She hands over the dinars and places the food in her bag, along with the other groceries she'd bought this morning for the celebration meal she was planning that night.

She pulls the hood of her cloak she is wearing this cloudy morning, up over her head as the rain starts drenching her hair. Gabrielle steps up onto the sidewalk and begins her stroll down pass the stores that line the streets.

She stops at the second one and takes in a deep breath, then slowly lets it out as she pushes the hood down off her head and slips through the door and closes it behind her.

XXX

Xena slips in the back door of the barracks from the training field. Her footfalls echo loudly to her ears as she moves down the empty halls. She removes her cloak and her head cover as she reaches the door of the healers before she hurriedly steps inside.

XXX

Perdicus closes the door behind him. He motions to the other guys to follow him and they walk down the hall to the common room. The room is full of activity. Everyone is getting ready for the trip. Perdicus spots Bart, the other captain and walks over to sit next to him.

"Well, everything's taken care of?" Perdicus says and he picks up a dagger sitting on the table next to him and spins it in his hand.

"Oh yeah, our general is sure going to be surprised. I wonder whose head she's going to bust for it."

His buddy laughs deep in his throat and sheaths the sword he'd been working on.

"I don't know, but I sure wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Unless she feels the same about him."

Having been told to keep the king's secret, Perdicus relaxes back in his chair and props his feet upon the table.

"Yeah lucky him, what would it take?"

The other captains gets up and slings his sheath across his back and reaches for his dagger from Perdicus.

"I'll catch up with you later, I've got some more packing to do."

Perdicus hands him the dagger.

"Sure, ok see you."

Then the sound of the warning whistle sounds off the wall of the room and fills their ears. The room comes alive with sounds of items being abandoned and boots hitting the wooden floor as soldiers line up to await for the General's appearance.

Ares walks through the grove of trees, hoping to get a better view. The battle playing out in the field in front of him, has been going on for hours.

"Looks like a blood bath. If you ask me…"

Hermes comments, joining his cousin on the forest floor, walking beside him.

"I don't remember asking you, now did I?" Ares rudely replies, and he keeps on walking down the path to an open spot in the trees.

"No, I guess I'll give you that much." Hermes answers, leaning against a tree near his cousin.

"Hermes, it's not like you to pay me a social call, so what do you want?" the angry question is soon growled.

"Oh nothing special…..I've just thought you'd like to know what your little companion has been up too lately…."

"You've been spying on Xena?"

The War God suddenly turns away from the battle and glares at Hermes.

"Tsk tsk, my dear cousin….She's your Chosen, you really should look after her more"

"So, what is it that you think that I should find so interesting?"

The War God's arms are folded over his chest as he's watching the end of the battle. He's visibly tense and annoyed and Hermes' nasty observations don't make it any better.

XXX

Upon, entering the army barracks, the soldiers instantly kneel and salute.

Xena looks around the room they've worked in and nods her head in content, putting smiles on all the men faces. She gives Perdicus an eyebrow raise when noticing the huge smile on his face as she continues walking towards her office.

She is more than surprised to see the room filled with Blue Hydrangea flowers as she steps in….Who could have sent them?

TBC in chapter 8...

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	8. Chapter 8

Doing an about-face, she finds herself looking into the brown eyes of her aide.

Taking a step back, Rags smiles up at the woman. "They certainly are Beautiful" he says, glancing over her shoulder and stepping around her.

He enters her office, with Xena following him and shutting the door.

She pads over to a shelf in the window that was full of flowers. "Yeah they are. However, who are they from?" she asks, despite of the fact she already has a pretty good idea on who could have offered them.

The aide walks around the room observing the flowers. He plucks one out of the vase and walks over where Xena's standing.

He pauses in front of her and sticks the flower behind her ear. "King Phillip, and he wants me to tell you that they remind him of the color of your eyes…..And you know he's right." he adds, after a brief pause.

"Yeah." Xena looks around grimly. "You know those two soldiers at the castle gates yesterday; I caught goofing off? Get them in here, have them do something with these." she orders, waving her hand around indicating the flowers. "Have them take some to the gazebos at the swimming area, and spread the rest around town."

She turns to leave the aide to carry out her orders, and she stops in mid stride. "And thank the king for me."

With that, she leaves her office.

Rags looks around worriedly for a couple of seconds, sighing at the task given, and rushing out the door himself to find the two soldiers.

Perdicus watches Xena leave her office and stands up from his knee and looks around at the other soldiers. "Ok boys, let's get out on the training field and do some drills."

The soldiers obey and march down the hall.

XXX

Ares flashes in their bedroom at the Halls of war in a fit of rage. "I'm going to kill him!" he roars as he sends several fire balls around the room turning everything into flames.

Upon hearing his bellows, Aphrodite pops in, barely avoiding her brother's fireballs.

"Hey! What's up with you?" she questions, putting out the fires that her Brother had intentionally started.

"Aphrodite, I'm not in the mood for you right now." he rudely observes, reclining on his side on the bed. A cup of wine appears in his hand and he takes a sip.

"Oh come on Ares. You know you can tell me anything." she insists, taking a seat on the end of the bed behind Ares, and squeezing his shoulders.

"Sorry Sis, no timer for chatting. I've got some business to take care of with a so-called King."

With that Ares disappears.

"I wonder what that was all about." Aphrodite replies to an empty room. She begins putting two and two together then covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh No!" She suddenly exclaims, also disappearing, in a pink light.

Xxx

Xena walks out the side door of the common room at the barracks. She goes down the alley way between the two barracks one being the private quarters of the troops. She turns the corner and blinks her eyes from the wind and light hitting her in the face.

With graceful movements, she pulls up her hood and continues on the path heading behind the barracks and over to the horses stables where she finally enters. A lot of cussing and a horse neighing files her ears. She keeps walking further in to find what all the commotion is about.

What she discovers makes her laugh hard.

The warrior watches the stable hand pulling himself up from the water trough; he is

Soaking and wet, slinging water everywhere.

She places her hand over her mouth to stifle a snicker when he goes over to Padon and points his finger at him swearing.

The horse reaches out and tries to bite his finger causing the boy to pull it back quickly.

The woman clears her throat and steps into the stall making her presence known to the two occupants, which only makes the stable hand stumble back, completely bewildered by the unexpected presence.

Xena walks around to Padon and strokes his nose.

The steed nuzzled his nose into her hand happy to see her. "I don't know if they got around to tell you yet, but we are leaving on a campaign in a day or two."

She takes an apple from her pouch and feeds it to Padon while going on speaking:

"I'd like you to come along and see to my horse."

Even though the stable hand-just like the cooks weren't really military , the boy still stands up straight and salutes her. "Yes Commander, it would be a great honor to take care of the General's horse."

The general nods her head. "Good then start getting ready."

She pats Padon's nose some more and smiles. "Get him ready too."

I'll be outside checking the wagons." she ads, whirling out the stable doors.

The boy hurries around to prepare with a happy hum.

Xxx

Xena looks across the big field that lays out in front of the horse's stables and the army barracks. The defenders' wall and gate of the city rise on the other side. About eight wagons lined up on the road that run through the field are positioned there.

Xena pauses for a time to study all the commotion going on around the wagons. Her roving eyes finally spy who she was looking for. She makes her way over to her aide that was standing by the next to the last of the wagons.

"Well, looks like you got your wagons."

Xena walks over and inspects the inside of the wagon. She quickly realizes that it is the one holding the food stuff.

"Have you finished with picking out what workers we will be taking with us?" She questions in a low, dry voice.

"Yes, the old man finally came and told me I could have as many wagons as I needed."

Rags looks up from the scroll he was studying. "I don't know what you said to him, but he was more than cooperative."

"Yeah I'm sure he was."

She looks around at the other wagons. "Where's the wagon that's carrying the weapons?" She reaches up and scratches her nose. "I need to make sure we have everything."

She looks where Rag finally points to the middle of the line of wagons. Then she makes her way over to the hide covered wagon, swinging herself up to the back to get a better view. She was well aware that one could never be too careful when it came to this type of things.

She carefully analyzes the wooden shelves that line the other side as well as the piles of body armor laying in the bed of the wagon, when something seemingly out-of-place catches her eye.

She squats down in the bed of the wagon and moves the armor around until what she was looking for was uncovered. She pulls it out and holds it up in her hand, surprise written all over her face. She shakes her hand in utter disbelief:

"How could this be?"

TBC IN CHAPTER NINE…

PLEASE GIVE ME A REVIEW THANKS


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

With one hand, she carefully lifts up the scabbard and carefully pulls the cast iron metal blade out. At a closer inspection, she notices the eagles, lions and wolves engraved in the handle.

"Great, as if I didn't have enough on my mind with all that's been going on lately!" she exclaims, turning her head as trying to better hear the sound coming from the left side of the wagon.

She slowly places the dagger she found in her pack, at her belt.

"I'm back here Rags with the weapons!" she finally yells as she recognizes the familiar sound of his steps.

"General, the stable boy has brought your horse." Rags responds as he pokes his head inside the cover of the wagon. "He said that you requested to be informed when he arrived."

"Yes, I did." Xena replies, waving the aide back and she climbs out of the wagon and leaps from the back. "You're doing a good job here, keep it up." she adds, slapping Rags on the back and walking away to collect her horse.

A few steps later, throwing her cloak back over her shoulders, she crosses the court to the barn.

The rain had finally stopped and the sun was peeking out in between the clouds. Padon nods his head up and down as she comes closer.

Xena reaches out and grabs the reins and pulls his head closer to her. She lifts his face up and places a kiss on his nose and whispers to him. "Hey boy! 'You ready to go for a ride?"

She spares a glance at the stable boy standing on the other side, silently watching her.

"I've never asked you your name, have I?"

"Addai, general." the boy answers, avoiding eye contact.

Nevertheless, in spite of his obvious shyness, he walks over and pats Padon on the side and smiles.

"He's already for your ride."

Without giving the boy's reaction a second thought, Xena mounts her horse.

"We'll return in a bit, time enough for you to finish your packing for the trip."

That being said, she gives Padon a nudge with the heel of her boots and trots off.

Hardly has she left the stables that none other than Aphrodite appears, mounted behind her.

Xena reaches down and pats him on the neck to calm him down.

"Hey beautiful!" Aphrodite exclaims full of childish excitement, as she wraps her arms around her waist.

"Aphrodite! Long time no see!" Xena replies, doing her best not to sound too surprised, turning her head to look at the Goddess. "What brings you here?"

"Well…Promise you won't tell?"

Xena flinches. Judging by the hesitation in her voice, she can tell that something quite wrong was about to happen.

Her persistent gaze is enough to convince the Love Goddess that they have an agreement.

"I sort of' came to warn you about my Bro. Apparently Hermes told him about some affair you were supposed to be having with the king here…?."

For more than a second, Xena looked shocked, just to change her expression into worried soon afterwards…. an unexpected reaction coming from her.

"Really?" she inquired, already anticipating the God's reaction. "Do you happen to know where he is now?"

"All he said before he left was he had some unfinished business to take care of." Aphrodite responds, shrugging her shoulders and flipping her hair back.

With that, she disappears, leaving quite an alarmed Warrior Princess behind her.

In no time, Padon was galloping across the meadow, heading to town.

XXX

The road suddenly becomes blurry as Gabrielle places her hand to her head, trying to suppress the wave of dizziness racking her body. She wipes the sweat off her forehead as she looks ahead and spots the entrance to the barracks a few feet away. She hears sword fighting in the distance and redirects her steps to the fields were she knew Perdicus must be.

XXX

The king sits in his chair behind his desk scribbling on a scroll. He tosses his pen down and sighs, shifting his gaze towards some of the flowers that he had sent Xena earlier.

Blue Hydrangeas were placed right about everywhere. He smiles as the image of her beautiful face when she walked into her office and saw the flowers rushes into his mind.

Then, right out of nowhere, a burst of blue light fills the room pulling him brutally out of his reverie.

XXX

Xena slouches over her stallion slapping his reins against his body urging him faster through the streets of town. The pedestrians scurry out of her path as the horse and rider rush past. Padon suddenly stops in mid motion throwing Xena first forward then back as his front feet rise up in the air.

xxx

Gabrielle leans against one of the walls of the building next to the field and wraps her arms around her upset stomach. She spots her husband surrounded by a group of soldiers.

"Perdicus!" she yells, waving at him.

The man turns around and waves, but, as he closes in the distance between them, his eye brows furrow up in question.

"Gabrielle what's wrong? You don't look too good."

She stands up and reaches out to clasp his hand but before she manages to do that,

She faints and falls into his arms.

xxx

Two more taps to the side from Xena's boots before Padon's front hooves hit the ground. He spins to the right to give Xena a better view of what is going on in front of them, of what has spooked him.

Hermes has stood just a few feet away for a while now, and he is not alone…. He is with an army of soldiers.

.

Still on the back of her horse, Xena unsheathed her sword and holds it up over her head.

Her battle cry echoes out across the buildings of the city. The answer of whoops coming

From her soldiers fill the air back, seconds before the sound of boots running in the dirt takes over.

Swords ring out as the two armies meet. Hermes notices Xena's horse charging his way an instantly disappears. Xena reaches the now empty place and turns around to observe the battle.

She notes that her soldiers have everything under control and she continues her pursuit through the castle gates.

XXX

In the meantime, Perdicus appears through the door of the healers with Gabrielle in his arms. He crosses the small room and lays her on a cot and kneels on the floor by her side.

He covers her hand with his and brushes her forehead with his free one, just to notice how dangerously hot it feels.

The healer comes in and takes a seat on the stool beside the cot. He places a wet linen on her burning forehead. He looks down at Perdicus and shakes his head.

xxx

Xena reaches the bottom of the stairs of the castle. She urges Padon forward and they ascend towards the doors. When they reach the top, they halt as the doors open and a servant steps out.

He baulks in surprise and backs up against the wall. With a triumphant smile, Xena rides the horse past the servant and through the doors.

"Where's the King?" she asks, looking at the frightened servant in search for an answer.

"In his study down the hall." The barely murmured response is soon given, and the very next moment, the horse is galloping further into the castle and down the halls.

XXX

The king stands from his chair when the bright light finally fades, his eyes widening in surprise as he discovers non other than the God of War standing before him.

With slow, confident moves, Ares approaches the King and, placing both hands on the desk, he leans forward, with quite a murderous expression on his face:

"I hear you have been busy courting my ….Chosen?"

The king nervously shakes his head.

"Not to my knowledge. Who's your …Chosen?"

Phillip slips his hand under the desk and wraps it around a dagger fastened underneath. He pulls it out and throws it at Ares, hitting his mark perfectly, inches away from the heart , and almost freezes the instant he sees the God glancing at the dagger, laughing.

"You are soooo dead. You do know right?"

Phillip's face goes white immediately and he backs up against the window behind him.

Ares slowly comes around the desk and stands in front of the man. Then looks him in the eyes as he reaches up to the dagger and yanks it out.

The wound automatically closes. He flips the dagger in his hand around and forces it to Phillips throat. He leans in closer to Phillip with their faces almost touching.

"That was a very big mistake."

Just as Ares is about to slice Phillip's neck though, the office doors burst open.

XXX

Gabrielle slowly opens her eyes and the first sight she sees is her husband's face. She smiles up at him and he smiles back. Then she begins to cry and all Perdicus can do is to

Put his arms around her and rock her back and forth. He stares into space with a tear in his eyes.

XXX

"Ares stop!" Xena's voice can be heard loud and clear echoing throughout the hall.

Without releasing the king, Ares looks over at Xena.

"I'm going to get rid of your lover once and for all. He's the reason you won't agree to marry me."

Xena dismounts and rushes over to the desk.

"Ares, you're wrong! Phillip and I aren't lovers."

She makes her way around the desk and stands at the God's side.

The God looks at the king and presses the dagger harder into his neck.

"Why should I believe you now? You've been hiding that this little scum bag made a pass at you and even kissed you, and has courted you ever since you arrived!"

XXX

Perdicus and Gabrielle slowly walk back to their home. She tightens the blanket around her as a chill runs through her body. Perdicus squeezes her tighter in his arms.

He kisses the top of her head and releases a breath. "I'm sure Xena will understand. We will just have to postpone our trip for a few days."

"I know." Gabrielle leans closer to him and sighs. "I can't wait climb in our bed."

XXX

"Ares' I'm sorry, I should have told everything when it happened. But I was afraid of what you would do." she quickly responds, reaching up and grabbing the God's arm.

"I was confused, I didn't know what or who I wanted to be with. But now that's all changed. I know who I want to be with."

Ares removes the dagger and grabs the king by the hair and pulls him to his knees and yanks his hair back just to place the dagger back at his neck.

"Oh yeah, and why is that?"

Xena moves to stand in front of the man she loves and looks into his eyes. She puts her hands on his arms and grips them tight. "I had to make a tough decision today."

She glances at the king and then back at Ares. She has tears in her eyes, and it's obvious that she's trying hard to control them.

One deep breath later, and she's ready to talk again, but still, the words pile up inside her throat:

Ares looks at her and shakes his head.

"You've chosen him haven't you?" he screams, pushing Xena away from him, and getting ready to cut the king's throat.

For a moment it looks as if time itself has frozen…

TBC IN CHAPTER 10

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	10. Chapter 10

When Bart blinks his eyes against the dust flying around from the battlefield, he almost misses the sword swipe at his head, but makes sure to duck and spin on his heels just in time. With a continuing fluid motion, he meets the foe’s sword in the air with a loud clash. When they meet face to face their eyes catch, eager to interpret the other’s next move. 

The sweat pours down his back as he heaves his sword into his foe’s and carries on into a figure eight attempting to extricate the sword from his hand.

When the attempt fails, they both step back away from each other, breathing hard. Then with a brash yell the rival sprints towards him. Ignoring the fatigue plaguing his body, the captain drops to his knees and plunges the end of his sword into the belly of his adversary.  
The warm blood splatters onto the captain’s face and oozes out over his hands. He cringes as he jerks the sword out of the foe’s chest and the opponent falls to the ground dead.  
Then the captain stands to his full height and wipes his blood stained face with the sleeve of his shirt.  
Bart’s eyes wander over the small battlefield outside the castle gates, and watches displeased how just maybe a handful of soldiers are still fighting. Then his sight falls upon a couple of soldiers standing near the buildings where they have initially been before the battle. With a puzzled look on his face, he takes a deep breath and looks to some soldiers nearby and signals them to storm the castle were he’d seen their general heading.  
With that done, the captain heads towards the two soldiers he spied earlier. As he gets closer, he also takes in fact that their uniforms look crisp and clean. 

He clears his throat as the two soldiers salute him. “Ok let’s get this mess cleaned up and head to the castle.”  
Xxx

Xena lands against the desk and she pushes off of it and into Ares, and they fall together against the wall. She hugs the God tightly with her arms. "Ares!" she yells at him. "I'm pregnant with your baby!" and then she slides to the floor at his feet.  
Xxx

The couple is laying in their bed in each other's arms. Perdicus hugs her tightly to him and kisses her head.

"Aren’t you afraid of getting sick too?" Gabrielle asks as she snuggles into his chest. 

"Not at all. I'm going to make sure you stay in this bed until you’re well." he chuckles and rests his chin where he had recently kissed.  
Xxx

"What??"  
The dagger makes a loud ringing noise as it hits the floor. Ares' releases the tight hold he has on the king’s hair as he turns towards her. "What did you just say?" 

Xena sits back on her legs and brings her hands to her face and wipes away the tears running down her cheeks. She cups her hands over her mouth and looks up at him. She squeezes her eyes shut making more tears run as she quickly nods her head. Then she reopens her eyes now wet with moister she holds his eyes with hers and smiles behind her hands.  
Xxx

"Are you disappointed that I wasn't pregnant?" Gabrielle asks as she wraps her legs around his.

"Yes, truthfully a little. But we have plenty of time to try again after you’re better." 

He chuckles again and lays his head back on the pillow. "But now let's get some rest, ok?"

She nods her head in agreement and then closes her eyes too.  
Xxx

"Wha…what, a baby? Our baby?"

He also falls to his knees in front of her and grabs her wrists. He watches her face and peers deep into her eyes looking for any deception that might be present. When he’s finally sure that there is none, he tightly wraps her safely in his arms.  
Xxx

The king trips over himself -trying to crawl away from the pair as fast as he can. The noise at the door drawls their attention as soldier after soldier rushes into the room. But nevertheless the couple on the floor pays no mind to it as this happy union ends with a drawn-out wholehearted kiss and cuddle.  
Xxx

The King makes it over to his desk and pulls himself up to his feet. He brushes his robes off and places his hand over the wound on his neck to stop the bleeding. A soldier nearby hands him a piece of linen. The king takes it and wipes off his hands and then places the linen back on his small wound. 

Phillip glances around the room at all the soldiers crowded around him. Then his eyes sparkle green with envy as they fall upon the couple still huddled on the floor. His eyes connect and lock with the God of War in a silent battle.

A sly smile crosses Ares face as the King averts his eyes elsewhere. 

 

Then the King rolls his eyes and thinks to himself. "It's not that easy War God!" he dabs the blood running down his neck. “I won't let her go, especially to someone like you."  
Xxx

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE OR DIDN'T LIKE THIS CHAPTER AND WHY! THANKS!


	11. Chapter 11

The first time Xena heard his voice in her head, she was sitting on some Persian rugs in front of her stone fire place in her cottage going over some maps. 

"Good morning my dear." Ares says.

She looks around as to make sure she is alone. "Okay Ares where are you?” she exclaims. "I've really got too much to do to be playing games with you this morning." 

She then goes back to studying her maps, intent on ignoring him if he were going to keep up with these childish games. 

The next thing she knows, there is a pair of boots standing in front of her. When she looks up, sure enough there is Ares looking down at her with a broad smile on his face. 

Her eyebrow sweeps up into her bangs along with the side of her upper lip that curls visibly, as she looks back down again at her maps…

She can no longer feel the warmth of the fire on her back, that indicates he has shifted his position and has moved to sit behind her, and all that is confirmed when she suddenly becomes aware of his palm running down her arm and his warm lips on the back of her neck. Then a whisper in her ear sends a shiver down her spine. 

"Why are you wasting your time with these things for?" he says, continuing with his lavish caresses. "It’s not like you're going to keep up with that silly crusade after last night’s events. “

She abruptly sits up away from him, twisting around to look into his smug face.  
"Just because our situation has changed doesn't mean anything." 

She pushes the maps aside and gets up to go to the fireplace.

 

She makes herself busy with making a pot of tea. She keeps her focus on the herbs in the box she retrieves off the shelf above the fireplace, only to take her mind off his piercing eyes she feels along her back. 

She turns to seize the cup from the low tabl.. , when unexpectedly, a cup appears in her hand instead. 

She mumbles a barely audible "Thank you." still trying to avoid that complacent look she knows it should be written all over his face.

She reclaims the tea kettle from its hanger above the fire and pours the water over the herbs in her cup and stirs the mixture with her finger as she crosses over to the Kline and relaxes against the plush pillows. 

The warrior watches him from across the room as he slowly makes his way over to where she is sitting, moving in that swagger arrogant way she knows so well. He has more to say that she knows she doesn’t really want to hear. She is well aware of the fact that anything he might say would end up in a big fight.

The woman blows on the stem rising from her cup before she takes a sip, as he sits down beside her, at her feet. 

"I'm going to see Phillip today to mend the situation from last night and talk to him about the campaign, I plan on leaving on soon." she informs him. 

Her eyes study his face for a bit, to gage any reaction he has to her news. 

He places his hand on her leg and begins stroking it in an up and down motion. 

"Well I guess you've got to do what you've got to do." he acidly replies, pinning her with his burning eyes and continued. “And I'm going to do the same."

The warrior springs forward and grabs his wrist and with fire in her eyes. “And what do you mean by that?" 

He rewards her with that arrogant grin again. “I guess you will find out soon enough won't you?" 

Angry as she is, she decides that she has had enough and lifts her leg up and knocks him off the couch and onto the floor. She stands up and stomps to the door going through it and slamming it behind her. 

Once outside, she starts down the stairs but pauses halfway down and leans against the stone wall behind her. 

The woman’s mind erratically goes over the conversation they have just had and she shakes her head thinking that she is going to end up killing him if he continues with his shenanigans. 

She continues down the rest of the stairs having her mind made up to visit her best friend across the road. As she continues, her trek a cloak suddenly appears around her shoulders. She hesitates at first but, hearing a distant rumble she glances up to the sky and sees the black clouds rolling in. 

She mumbles incoherently and flips the hood of the cloak over her head as she continues across the dirty road. 

Perdicus is the one who answers the door at her knock and she enters their house. She looks round the room and sees no sign of Gabrielle. When she turns to him with a look of question on her face, he rapidly offers an answer. 

"I was just going to fix me a cup of tea….would you like one too?"

He makes his way to the fireplace to prepare the tea and turns to her, waiting for her to reply.

"No thanks." she answers. "Where’s Gabrielle?" she asks when he finishes with his cup of tea and gestures her to sit.

They sit together on the couch in front of the fireplace and she silently watches as he blows on his tea before he answers her question.

“….Well that's why I glad you’re here." he says. “She’s taking up sick and I wanted to talk to you about staying here to take care of her instead of going on the trail with the army." 

At first she is stunned that one of her captains would make such a suggestion but then her second thought is that this is her best friend and that him being by her side is the best thing for her… 

"Sure, you can stay here but I expect you two to catch up with us as soon as she's well enough." she says and then continues "have you taken her to see a healer?"

He nods his head at her question.

"He said it was the coughing sickness and that she should recover in a few weeks. “

In the meantime, he finishes his tea and sets his cup on the table, in front of them.

The General rises from her seat and walks to the door and opens it and leans out. She places two fingers in her mouth and lets out two loud whistles. A soldier seeming to come out of nowhere appears at the bottom of the stairs and salutes her with a fist to the chest. 

As much as she despises it, she knows Ares far too well not to be aware that he would have someone nearby to answer her call just in case she needs anything. . 

"Go tell the King that I would like to visit him this afternoon." she orders, calmly watching the soldier taking off to deliver her message. 

The General then turns back into the house and closes the door. Perdicus has just made himself another cup of tea and is in the middle of a drink when she smiles and says. “Now let's go visit my sick friend."   
He returns the smile and together they make their way to the bedroom.

Xxx  
The roll of thunder shakes the crystals dangling from the candle chandlers suspended high above, then it vibrates off the stone walls and fills the sitting room. Phillip is resting on the Kline in front of the rock fireplace absently twirling her wedding bracelets with his index fingers. "I can't believe it's been five years since she told me her answer was no." 

He exhales noisily as he sits up and drops the jewelry on the wooden floor at his feet. The sudden movement elects a small twinge and he reaches up and softly touches the wound on his neck. Instantly, thoughts are flooding his mind and images of last night’s events start tormenting him again. 

The king gets up and goes to the window and pushes open the shutters. He runs his fingers through his blonde hair reveling the wrinkles running across his forehead. He leans forward and places his elbows on the window sill and presses his puffy eyes and flushed cheek against the cool stones and lets his gaze wander towards the dark clouds forming in the sky.

As he stands there in the window, a relaxing music coming from the castle yard fills his ears.  
He closes his eyes when he recognizes that it is a lyre, and involuntarily thinks back to another time when her sweet voice had sang along with identical musical notes. 

After the memory of the tavern that he once had visited fades, he gets an idea.

He turns from the window and glances across the room, rapidly spotting what he was looking for. He crosses the room and stands looking down at it.

Then he sits down cross legged on the floor in front of it and reaches out, caressing the lid, dust covering his fingertips. After he has dusted his hands together he again reaches out and traces the white cross on a blue shield that is surrounded by laurel branches on the lid. The coat of arms of Greece he had proudly wore on his chest for the three years he served. 

He lifts the brass latch that holds the lid closed and the hinges creaks as he pushes it open. When he leans over, a sweet lavender perfume and cinnamon tickles his senses, eliciting a sneeze. 

The first thing his hand reaches for, are the daggers that are laying on top of his uniform that had been neatly folded inside years before.. After a quick inspection he lays them beside him on the floor as his eyes catch sight of a pouch that is lying half way under the clothing. He bites his bottom lip as he reaches down and plucks the pouch out of the chest.

He lays the pouch in his lap hesitating to open it. An exasperated sigh escapes his lips as he grabs the bottom of the pouch and empties the contents into his lap. His fingers wander over the trinkets and pick out the sea shells that he had found on their evening walks along the beach. 

After sitting them aside he glances over the last of the items noticing the dinars lying there. On the face of the coin there is the image of the town of Amphipolis, the closest village to where they had docked their ship on the shores of the Aegean Sea. 

His findings are soon interrupted by a knock on the door. 

"Come in." he manages to say as his voice caught in his throat. 

The door opens and his servant steps inside. "Excuse me, my King, but I have a message from your General." 

His mood immediately perks up at the mention of her. He doesn’t want to sound desperate so he waits a beat before he responds. “What does she want?" he finally asks.

The roughness of his voice makes the man visibly winch and he revels the message quickly. “She wants to see you later this afternoon." and then he turns and leaves. 

For the first time this morning a huge smile finds its place across his face and a giddy laugh escapes his throat, as he thinks of the possibility of the meeting, might it be a change of heart on her part.

He quickly shoves all the stuff around him back in the truck and trots to his private baths to prepare for her arrival.  
TBC...

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	12. Chapter 12

Xena sluggishly treads down the dimly lit castle hall. She’s on her way for the meeting with the king. She first hesitates in front of the big, marvelously decorated door to collect herself before she steps forward and pushes the door open and slips inside. The room is dark, the only light coming from the blaze in the lavish fireplace. 

She’s startled by a sudden banging sound that comes from somewhere in front of her. Then she watches as Phillip gets up from the plush chair, the fire at his back illuminating his image. She casts her eyes down to the timber floor suddenly feeling uncomfortable when looking at him.

When she feels him put his soft hand in hers, she looks up again and sees he's standing beside her grinning and she returns it with a half-smile of her own. Then she feels him tug her over to the oriental rugs close to the fire where they both take a seat. 

They both sit there quietly watching the fire as she fidgets with the hem of her leather skirt, when she catches his movement out of the corner of her eye. She sees he has pulled out a plain satchel from the pocket of his silk robe and pours it into his hand. 

When she recognizes the objects in his hand she closes her eyes as the flood of memories invades her mind. When she reopens them she sees him take the sea shells and line them up one by one on the ground. She also pictures them walking hand in hand along the sandy beach, picking up each one of the shells. 

She reaches out and touches the ruff surface of one he has placed the closet to her then looks up at his face that was now glowing in the firelight. She takes an unsettled breath and tries to speak.

"Phillip I want...”

But he puts his finger to her lips and stops her from speaking. That's when she notices the second pouch in his hand. She anxiously watches him turn the pouch upside down, emptying it in her lap. 

Her breath catches in her throat as she instantly recognizes the object. She slowly reaches down and grasps it and brings it closer to her face. It is just like she remembered it being… right down to their names engraved into the beautiful rose vines entwined together. 

Phillip brushes her dark hair off her shoulder and finally speaks. 

"What can I do to make you see?" He asks between sobs. "….he will never be able to love you like I do."

 

The sudden rise of emotions invades her heart and tears sprung from her eyes, but she swallows them, knowing what she has to do, the decision has already been made. Then she blurts out.

"I can’t do this anymore….I don't love you Phillip…." 

The sound of her own words secretly stabs her heart. But she knows she has to put an end to this before he gets hurt or even killed. And then, in a split second, before the King can get a clear idea of what she is about to do, she raises her hand towards the fire and pauses for an instant before tossing it in. . . . 

"I don't think I ever did."

She looks him in the eyes and sees the shock and the pain on his face, trembling at the awareness that everything has been caused by her. "I'm sorry." 

She then abruptly rises from the floor and walks quickly to the door, pausing a bit before she leaves.

"I'm leaving with the troops at first light tomorrow." 

She then shuts the door behind her and turns to lean against the wall outside of it. Her head falls back to the wall and fresh tears flow down her cheeks as her ears are filled with his anguish cries from within the room she has just left.

XXX

 

Hermes stands on the bank of a mineral spring fed by a waterfall from the Pangaion hills and surrounded by the dense forest. He silently watches the other man swim across the water towards him, still unaware of his presence. . 

Canis notices the God as he wades out of the water and grabs a linen to dry off. Then, he sits by his pile of clothes that are on an outcropping of rock on the shore of the pond.

Hermes' boots crunch the gravel rocks as he makes his way over to the Warlord. He stands there in front of him with his arms crossed giving him a few minutes to dress before he speaks.

“Canis I came to let you know that the plans to have the King assassinated and the General of his army charged with his murder didn't work out exactly how we had planned it." 

As the silence between the two men lingers, it is replaced by the noises of the night animals around them. Canis finishes tying his boots then straightens up and folds his arms across his chest and glares at the God.

"You know what this means, right?" he reaches up and scratches his nose. "Once the King’s scouts find us, he will send his army on our trail” 

The God shuffles his feet and clicks his tongue. Then he paces around in a small circle while he swings his arms and bangs his fist together. 

“There was nothing else that could have been done, there was a little interference." 

He stops pacing a couple of seconds later, to take a better look at the other man. 

"Interference of what?" 

Canis leans over and grabs his water skin and takes a sip. 

"I underestimated my cousin." the God answers. “The love he has for this mortal woman will be a bigger problem than we have initially predicted”

He wrinkles his nose in disgust at the indication of it all. 

Canis chuckle's and the Deity gives him a sideways glance.

"I wouldn't laugh too hard…..that means she’s coming after you!” 

Canis' mouth snaps shut and he throws the water skin behind him and gets up to face the Supernatural being.

"Let her come because I'm not scared of no woman or her little army."

The God baulks at the harsh words of the Warlord but then turns away from him with a small smiles to his lips. He knows perfectly well what this General is capable of and has just realized that the proud Warlord doesn’t have a clue. 

"That's fine. The only thing that interests me is our deal. “ 

Canis nods his head but has a look of suspicion on his face, not truly trusting the God. 

"Nothing has changed as far as I am concerned. As soon as I get what I want, you will too." 

The God claps his hands together in delight and bounces a little on his heels.

"Wonderful, then the sooner the better. I'll leave you now but you’d better hurry and get started into the hills the army will be on its way soon. 

With that, the God disappears leaving Canis to gather the rest of his belongings and hightail it back to his army’s camp ground in the woods.

Xxx

The loud slam of the door shook the barracks around them and all the troops instantly froze in place. Xena struts through the common room and as she passes each soldier, they fall to their knees one by one. She stops at the wall on the other side of the room and spins around and stares at the group before her. All the soldiers’ eyes are cast down to the wooden floor. 

When she clears her throat only one soldier dares to address her. She gives a signal for Bart to leave and he complies. She soon follows behind him. When they enter her office she immediately goes to her chair behind her desk and plops down and props her feet on top her desk. 

Bart, visibly unnerved by her display of behavior, reopens the door and waves the scouts that were standing in the hall, in. They enter and quickly take a seat in the chair in front of her desk and wait. 

The General eyes the scouts sitting in front of her. “Ok now that we are all here...”   
Then her voice suddenly lifts “….report!"

The scouts exchange a frightened glance before the older of the two starts talking. 

"General we have located the warlord in the Thracian area near the Pangaion hills."

She makes eye contact with her captain and he quickly leaves out the door. Then she address the scouts again.

“I want you to report to captain Bart after you eat and get some rest and give him more of a detailed report. For now you’re dismissed." 

The scouts salute fist to chest, then leave the room passing the captain and Rags.   
When the door is once again closed, the twosome takes the now vacant chairs to wait for the meeting to start. 

She first addresses Rags. “I want you to go and finish up tying all the loose ends for the trip we are leaving at first light tomorrow." 

Seeing that was his indication for dismissal, Rags gets up and leaves. 

Then general sits for a few more seconds in silence before she reaches for her pack on the wooden floor. She opens it and pulls out a bundle wrapped in sheep skin cloth and lays it on the desk and opens it. Then she looks at her captain.

“I found these three things during the last few weeks I've been back."

She sits back into her chair to study her captain’s reaction.

Bart looks at the stuff laying on the desk and sees the two daggers and the pendant. 

He also notices the eagle's crest and the letters underneath it……SPQR on both. 

"That only makes what I've got to tell you a little more confusing and interesting at the same time." the Captain replies. 

"Ok spill it then." She retorts, pressing pensively her fingers against her lips.

Bart relaxes a bit, feeling a little more comfortable then when he first came in. 

"Last night while we were fighting, I noticed that there were two soldiers close to the castle walls….They were only observing the battle, without rising their swords.” 

"Hmm…that is interesting." 

She gets up from her chair and goes to a little table in the corner and pours her a mug of water and turns back to the captain. "I wonder if they are connected to those?" nodding at the objects on her desk. 

"I found out after the fights that they are a new presence in the King’s army, brought here from one of the outer cities...” Bart continues, studying the daggers. 

"Yeah well see what else you can find out about them; don’t make it obvious though,   
We don't want them to run before we find out what they are doing here." 

There is silence between them again as she drains her cup and sets on the table by the pitcher. Then she waits until he nods his head that he understands and she continues. 

“That brings me to the second thing I want to talk to you about." 

She comes over to her desk again and sits on the edge facing her captain. 

“As you know Gabrielle has taken sick and Perdicus has requested to stay behind and take care of her."

She twists around and rolls the lambskin back up and gets up and goes back around the desk to her chair. "We are going to need two captains for this trip, so I want you to recommend someone from the ranks of soldiers to promote." 

She places the bundle in her bag on the desk and her hands on her hips while looking at Bart. "Just pick someone you trust and you'll do fine."

He nods his head as he stands and salutes her, then leaves out the door. 

Now finally alone in the office, she decides to try this mind talking with Ares. "Ares can you hear me?"

"Yes my love I am always here."

"They found the warlord near my hometown. Looks like we are heading home." 

All she hears in return is the God’s laughter. 

"Great I'm glad you find this so funny."

TBC in chapter 13...  
reading your comments brings a smile to my face... thank you and keep them coming:))


	13. Chapter 13

The tall figure sits stiffly atop his golden Palomino beside the grassy trails that lead up into the Pangaion hills. He crosses his arms across his chest as he watches his infantry trudging up the rocky slopes.

The wind blows back the cloak he is wearing and the sprinkles of rain hit his face. He peers up into the sky and notices the black clouds moving in fast. He turns his horse towards the back of the line and breaks into a trot. When he reaches the end he falls in step with his Calvary captain.

"Captain! We need to move up these hills faster before the storm starts." Cain's says, pointing to the clouds above them. "We need time to find shelter and set up camp."

"Yes sir." the captain agrees. Then, he kicks his horse and races up to the front of the line shouting orders to the soldiers.

The warlord slows his horse and lets the Calvary step ahead of him, pulling his cloak to block out the chill.

He watches his captain at the front, pushing the soldiers to move faster and to make room for the Calvary that are already starting to climb the hill behind them.

A few instants later, the paths are steep. But within a candle mark they are all resting in a little valley surrounded by forests and a little river running through it within the hills.

Seeing that he has everything under control, the warlord steers his horse to the river to cool off. The rain has held off most of the morning and with a bit of luck they will have the tents set up before it starts.

He rides his horse through the little clumps of trees and comes out into the clearing of the river bank. He climbs slowly off his horse and grabs the reins and walks slumped over and a limp over to the river.

The warlord directs his horse to the water and slaps it on the butt to get it going. Then, he takes a seat on a nearby rock and starts taking off his boots and rolling up his trousers legs. After having set his boots on top of the rock, he than walks softly on the pebble bank of the river.

Once he reaches the river, he slowly plops down on the soft dirt and dangles his legs into the river with a sigh.

A few minutes later, a clearing of a throat makes him quickly turn his head and his hand goes to the dagger he has hidden in his belt. He lets out a deep sigh when he realizes who it is.

"Hermes!" he exclaims under his breath while putting his dagger away, getting up to go back to the rock were he has carelessly left his boots. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

"I don't have to sneak upon anyone." Hermes kindly reminds him, while coming over and taking a sit on the same rock with the warlord. "I wanted to give you this map of the area and of the caves."

He hands Canis the map with a wide grin on his face and continues.

"The king's army is preparing to leave as we speak."

The God looks around the area with distaste. "It should take them a couple of days to get here if they don't run into any trouble that is."

The twosome lock eyes and laugh at the indication of that statement. Hermes disappears and leaves the warlord to his task.

The man now alone slips the map into the pack on his belt and ties his boots then looks around the area for his horse that has found a clump of grass nearby.

He walks over to it and grabs its reins. "Come on girl, let's get back to camp and get you some real food."

With that, he leads the horse through the clump of tress he had exited earlier.

They come out of the other side of the trees and into the camp. He notices that most of the tents have already been set up and the cooks were busy preparing their noontime meals.

The general first spots his boss and immediately signals a soldier to take his horse. He comes over to Canis. "Sir." he then points with his finger in the direction of his tent. "Your tent has been set up and has all you're belonging inside."

Canis gives him the reins of his horse to the soldier waiting beside him and he gives the General a nod. Then he hobbles over to his tent.

The warlord raises the hide flap covering the opening and enters his tent. Once inside, he wanders over to his work table and lays the map from his pouch on top of it. Then he turns around and hobbles over to the full size cot in the corner and plops down on his back.

He covers his face with his hands and rubs his face, then sighs. He sits back up on the end of the cot and takes off his boots then stands and strips off his armor and tosses them to the ground. He then makes his way back to the work table and pulls out a different map from a box placed under the table.

He unrolls it across the work table and picks up a couple of weights on the table and places them on both ends of the map to hold it open. Then, he reaches for a nearby lamplight and positions it by the map. He slides his index finger over the map of the area they are currently camped then brings it down to the villages nearby.

The warlord's index finger falls on first the village of Ampholisis, then slides over to the smaller village of Philippi. He taps his finger on the latter of the two and grins to himself. He limbs back over to the opening of the tent and pushes the flap to the side and speaks to the soldier that's standing guard there.

"Go tell the General that I would like to speak to him." he hisses at the guard and then reenters the tent and takes a seat on the folding stool near the work table, waiting for an answer...

Xxx

Gabrielle lies on her side on the soft sheep skin, her head resting on her folded arm on the feather pillows in their big bed in the dark room. She vacantly stares out the window studying the raindrops racing down the windowpane.

She grips the herb poultice that lays across her chest as the plague of coughing seizes throughout her body again. She rolls over to the other side of the bed and reaches for the glass sitting on the small table beside it, when her attention is suddenly diverted to the slowly opening door across the room.

The Bard puts her hand to her face to shade her eyes from the bright light that filters in the room from the open door and then her eyes fall to the outline of a body standing in the doorway. The figure quietly closes the door and crosses the room to the bed.

The girl tilts her head to the side and a discreet smile builds slowly across her face, when the form hesitantly steps to the bed and into the light of the window. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

She reaches out to take the other woman's hand.

Xena smirks and responds slowly, gently caressing the offered hand. Then, she places her free hand on the Bard's forehead. "I'm sorry I know I should have come sooner." she squeezes her hand and releases it.

Then with a slight tense in her legs, she sits in the chair standing beside the bed and with a deep breath she reaches for the bowl placed on the night stand table.

After wringing out the rag of excess water, she places it across the girl's forehead and runs her fingers through her own hair and relaxes back in the seat.

"So, I've heard something interesting about you today." Gabrielle chuckles. "Is there anything that you might want to tell me?" she eyes the other woman with a wide grin displayed on her face.

Xena wets her lips before she answers. "hmm…not anything that I can think of, unless you're talking about the army leaving out later this morning." she glances around the room uneasily.

Gabrielle breaks out in another bought of a coughing fit but holds up her hands to stop her movement when she sees Xena set up in her chair. She takes the glass of water that she offers her from the small table and relaxes back on her feather pillows.

She exchanges a knowing look with Xena then continues. "You know that's not the something I was talking about."

She lays back with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes to wait for the answer she was looking for.

Xena bites down the smile that threatens to break out across her face and offers just a nod rather than speaking.

Gabrielle lets out an ear-piercing squeal, making Xena jump quickly to her feet , and then she hurriedly sits up to take advantage of her friend's position to give her a hug.

With tense arms, Xena releases her friend and hesitantly steps back from the bed. "Now you need to get some rest so you can get better and meet us on the trail."

She squeezes her eyebrows together and a too quick smile frames her face.

She watches as Gabrielle nods her head as she lays back again on her pillows and pulls the animal furs to her chin. Then, Xena turns and moves toward the door to leave.

Xxx

Xena flips the hood of her cloak up on her head to counter the rain that is still falling. As she moves off the last stone step and into the muddy yard, a clap of thunder startles her. She continues through the yard though, her boots squashing loudly in the mud and it takes her a few more seconds to realize it wasn't only the thunder that had demanded her attention so she pauses to listen more carefully.

The next yell rings out louder this time and she surveys the area to find the origin of the noise. Her eyes squint to the road and her fingers come to press against her lips at the sight that she now sees coming down the lane.

It's her stallion, Padon racing down the path, its hooves pounding the soft mud, his wet mane flying in the wind. At a short distance behind, there's Addai running after the horse, his cloak clutched closed in his fist to keep it in place, waving the other hand in the air to hopefully get the runaway's attention, and thus making it stop in place.

She lets off a couple of loud short whistles and with a soft expression on her face observes the horse changing direction, heading straight towards her.

As Padon comes closer to her she reaches out and brushes the stallion's forehead. She produces in her other hand apples slices from the pocket of her cloak and lets him nibble them from her palm. She then walks around to his side and climbs up into the saddle and with a click of her tongue they head back to the road.

Both horse and rider approach Addai who is still standing in the middle of the path waiting with his hands behind his back and holding his wrist. As they get closer she can easily make out the clenching of his jaw.

She pulls back on the reins and halts her horse next to the boy. "Looks like he got away from you again." she says in a joking observation.

"He kind of did…." the boy points his index finger in the direction of Padon. Right after I finished strapping all his gear in place."

He walks around in front of Padon and continues through clenched teeth. "And he also knocked me down on the ground and escaped out the open stables door."

He ends his rant with a sob in his throat.

"Did he now?" Xena remarks, raising her eye brows and reaching down to pat Padon on the neck. "You knew of his temper when you signed up to be his caregiver did you not?" she harshly asks him as she turns her head away from the boy to hide that big smile on her lips.

"Yes ma'am I did know." he answers as he shuffles his feet in the mud of the road and rubs the back of his neck with his hand.

"I think that you need to head back to the stables." she says with a sharp tone in her voice. "And make sure you are ready to leave."

She carefully controls her tone.

She observes the visible flinch she elicits from the boy and embellishes the event in her mind for a fleeting few minutes as the boy takes off running towards the way he came. Then, she clicks her tongue and nudges Padon into a slow gallop towards the barracks.

She stays at the outskirts of the town to avoid the crowd of people, as they make their way to the front gate. They then come nearer the stables when she notices that only a couple of wagons still have wooden ramps and that several barrels of food stuff are being rolled up them and into the back.

They halt in mid stride and she lets off two long whistles and a hand signal enough so that a couple of men standing near the wagons in front bust into action and help finish loading the remaining wagons. Then they pull the ramps down from the back of them and drag them to the stable.

Xena guides Padon through the line of wagons and past the foot soldiers to the Calvary in front. She steers her stallion over to her Captain and his own horse.

They sit there together on their horses among the other soldiers for a while, without exchanging a word... Then, she lifts her hand in the air and gives the signal to the soldiers manning the gates, the same soldiers who have been assigned to stay behind and guard the city. The wheel groans with the heavy pressure and the chains clank as they are wound around it as the soldiers turn it to lift the heavy iron gates.

When it reaches the top of the wall the guards secure it and then wave to the General that everything is ok.

Then, with another wave of her hand, and a loud whistle, she sets in motion first her army then the wagon train coming from behind.

Xena guides Padon out of the gate with the Calvary, and once outside, she sends him into a gallop across the fields. They climb up a small hillock that overlooks the path that her army will travel.

She sits in the saddle with straight posture and her shoulders back, her chin high in the air and her neck exposed. The cool wind blows playfully her long dark hair back over her shoulders, but at least the rain has stopped for the time being.

While they are standing on that mound she suddenly feels an electrical jolt shooting down her spine and the pleasure of his touch increases as he wraps his protective arms around her waist with his hands ending up on her belly. She takes a long savoring breath as his soft lips touch her right shoulder. Then, a couple of more kisses and licks of his tongue follow, making a trail up her flushed skin up to her neck and over to her ear.

"So tell me…"

She licks her own lips.

"What did you find that was so funny about having to take my army to my home village?" She asks, despite of the fact that she is actually totally absorbed by his onslaught of kisses.

He stops momentarily from ravishing her neck to answer. "Well you've been so adamant from the beginning about introducing me to your family…."

He caress her belly lovingly with his palms and whispers in her ear. "Now that we are extending our little family I think it would be a good time to meet my in-laws."

He feels the shiver that runs through her body caused by his words. So he folds his arms tighter around her and cradles her to his chest. "Don't worry you're family's going to love me, you'll see. Then he kisses the back of her head and together they watch her army parade down the trails followed closely by the wagon trains.

TBC CHAPTER 14….

PLEASE REVIEW


	14. Chapter 14

By mid-afternoon, a strong breeze has begun chasing the dark clouds away along with the rain. The sunshine is now high in the sky and beaming down over the group on the road below.

Xena is comfortably seated on Padon's back in a slow gait on the dirt path. Her Calvary are fanned out around her on alert of their surroundings.

The whooshing sound that rings in her ears makes her quickly hide her hands in the goat hair pouch sitting in her lap as Ares appears only visible to her, on his own white stallion with a big silly grin on his face.

She looks at him with surprise as he deliberately lowers his head to give her a playful look.

"What?" she questions, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Oh nothing much." he answers in a relaxed tone, staring for a moment at Padon's crest.

She scrambles to hide it, than begins to laugh.

"Ok you caught me." she pulls out the project she was working on and holds it up into Ares face. "See, happy now?"

Ares does his best to stop a smile from caressing his lips. He fails miserably though.

"Since when are you into… feminine stuff?" He asks, barely able to hold back the laugh that threatens to escape his throat.

"Well I am a woman as you very well know; and braiding is relaxing…."

"Since when is braiding a horse's crest is considered to be calming? "

Witnessing his antics it makes her roar into a laughter of her own.

"Ok, very funny I'm sure you didn't come here to make fun of my secret hobbies - that by the way are the only ones able to keep me sane from a boring horseback ride across Greece." She says then cocks her head and eyes the God.

She watches Ares lightly bounce his leg around in his stirrup, so she directs her horse closer to his and puts her hand on his knee to halt the motion. When she looks up into his face she notices his rapidly blinking eyes.

"Ok, out with it!" she commands in a deep tone.

Ares rubs the back of his neck before he complies with her order.

"Ok I hired you a personal attendant."

"What?" she openly stares at him before she continues. "Why in the name of Hades would you...!"

But before she can continue her rant, a shrill whistle claims her attention and suddenly, all her attention is focused into the direction from where her scout is approaching at a break-necking speed.

"This conversation is far from over." she makes sure to mention in a monotone voice, throwing Ares one last glare. Then, she clicks her tongue and Padon takes off into a canter to meet the scout. Ares watches her leave then shakes his head and disappears.

As she hurries towards the other rider and as the wind hits her in the face, a phantom odor of wood burning in a fire pit reaches her nostrils.

Once she approaches the scout, she guides her horse around the backside of the other horse and comes up even with him.

"Report!" she snaps at the scout.

The soldier salutes his fist to chest and responds.

"General we have reason to believe that there is part of the forest burning between where the crossroads starts and the city of Pynda."

"Ok you and the other scouts go back to the crossings and wait for us there." she briefly orders, then she turns Padon back into the other direction and trots back to the waiting army.

As she reaches her troops again she heads towards her Captain and the temporary promoted soldier whose name slips her mind at the moment. When she stops in front of them she first glimpses at the new guy with a cold stare then she refocuses on Bart.

"There may be trouble ahead; we need to get moving." her posture stiffens in the saddle and she lets off two sharp whistles then waves her hand in the air, turning her horse in the direction of the roundabout.

As the echo of her command goes down the line of her troops and eventually reaches the wagon train, her Calvary spread out around her. But before her captains takes their original positions, she hears Bart whisper to the new guy.

"Just follow her orders and try to stay out of her way and you will be ok."

Right after that, Bart takes the position of her right flank and the new guy Homer takes the left. She faces forward, unbothered by what others may think of her and heads towards the junction.

It takes them less than a candle-mark to reach the crossroads. The smell of burning wood is even more pungent now in the wind then it was before.

Riding on Padon, Xena gives one loud whistle and holds her hand in the air and signals to her captains behind her to catch up with her. She waits as they come up on either side of her.

"Bart take the half of the Calvary and half of the foot soldiers and go meet the scouts at the crossroads."

She leans forward and places her elbow on the saddle-horn then continues. "Have them show you what they have found and then do whatever you can to contain the fire."

The General observes quietly as Bart picks out the soldiers that are to go with him to the crossroads. With his choosing done, he salutes the boss and throws the other captain a sympathetic look then waves his arm in the air and takes off on his horse with the others behind him.

She watches Bart and the others leave then she turns to Homer with a pinched expression.

"I want you to stay with the rest of the troops and wagons make sure that everyone makes it to the crossroads.

With a wave in the air the group gets back on the path and slowly make their way to the intersection.

The troupe finally reaches the junction, making their way off the path down the small slope to a little meadow about a half-mile away in less than a candle-mark. As the horses trot across the field with their hooves making slurping sounds in the mud, the wagons wheels make long tracks behind them. They finally get to a clump of trees with a river that runs through the back half of the meadow.

Xena holds her hand in the air to stop the progression of the group. She turns and looks over her shoulder at Homer and motions him forward with her hand. When his horse is even with hers she lends over and places her arm over his shoulders and pulls him closer to her then speaks in a deep throaty tone.

"I want you to line up all the wagons back to back along this line in front of these trees and remember I'll be watching."

Then, she removes her arm and punches him in the shoulder almost sending him flying off of the other side of the horse.

She dismounts from her horse and grabs his reins to lead him around the wagons that have stopped behind them. When she comes around the corner to head for the clump of trees, right out of nowhere she finds herself face to face with an old woman half her size. Xena steps back and adjusts the sash she's wearing across her chest.

She analyses the old woman who stands in front of her. She's holding a cloth bag in one hand and a glass of milk in the other.

Xena clears her throat, twists around to her horse and tosses the reins up over his head and then spins back and takes a step closer to the old woman. The general continues on her walk to the trees when she stops dead in her tracks at the sound of the gravelly voice behind her.

"Mistress, I think it's time for you to eat and then get some much-needed rest." The attendant blurts out.

Xena spins around to face the older woman and gives her a cold stare.

"And may I ask who do you think you are to be giving me orders?"

Her eyes never falter from the cold blue stare of the other pair of eyes.

"My name is Maggie and I'm here to take care of you."

She presses her lips together and plants her feet into a wide stance. "Lord Ares has given me strict instructions to…"

But before she can finish her sentence, Xena firmly invades her personal space, their noses almost touching now.

"Well you know where Lord Ares can go if he thinks for one minute…"

This time it is Maggie who interrupts

"I care not of your feelings of or your relationship with Lord Ares, all I care about is his heir that…"

Xena slaps her hand over the mouth of the old woman in front of her and pulls her closer to her and whispers in her ear.

"That is something that will not be discussed in front of my soldiers, do you understand?"

Maggie twists out of the Generals grip and runs her fingers through her grayish brown hair.

"Yes, then I think we both understand each other very well."

She then extends her hand out, holding the linen bag of smoked meat and the other that's

Holding the glass of milk to Xena with a smug smile on her face.

"Yes, then let's get on with it then."

She snatches the linen out of the old woman's hand and the glass out of the other. When she looks up from Maggie she notices some of the soldiers standing around watching her so she yells at them.

"Don't you have something that you need to be doing?"

She watches as the soldiers jump on the nearest wagon to them and start throwing stuff out of them to the ground as fast as they could.

She looks back down at Maggie with a tight smile then passes by her heading to the river and the crop of trees.

When she reaches the trees she takes a small leafy path that she knows it would lead her

To the bank of the river. The short path winds around a few trees and she ducks under a couple of low hanging branches. Then she finally comes out of the woods.

Her eyes widen as she steps out of the trees and onto the bank of the river. Her smile widens and she parts her lips and takes in the view of the crystal-clear water and the fish jumping out of it. Then her eyes wander across to the other side of the river to the tall hills and the waterfall that washes down it into the river.

After taking in the view she glances around for a place to sit. She chooses a cluster of grass and leaves over by the trees.

When she sits on the grass and leaves she leans back against the tree and in a very low threatening voice says.

"If you value your Godhood what so ever you will turn around and leave the way you came."

Ares peeks around the tree he was hiding behind and then slowly makes his way over to sit beside her. He looks at her for a second before he starts to speak but then when he does his voice cracks and so he stops to take a breath.

"Where did you find her, in the bowels of Hades' realm?"

She takes a piece of the smoked meat from the linen and rips a piece off of it with her teeth.

As she's chewing the meat she takes a sip from the glass of milk and can't resist taking a peek in his direction, and then chuckles to herself at the sight before her.

Ares, sitting beside her with his head down picking at the clover they were sitting in, was a pretty funny image to look at.

When he hears her snort he looks up at her with dancing brown eyes. She looks away to study the river in front of her not ready to forgive him yet.

When her ears picks up the crunching of the leaves on the ground beside her, it makes her blood race through her veins. Her skin tingles when she feels his rough finger tracing small circles down her bicep. She takes a large deep savoring breath as his leans towards her and lies on his back and rests his head in her lap.

She bites down on her bottom lip when his finger nails scratch up her arm to her neck. Then his arms wraps around her neck and her body automatically follows the command of that arm as he pulls her face down close to his. She studies his brown eyes and wets her lips as the tingling feeling runs through them as they move closer but just as their lips were about to touch a shrill shout rang through the air.

Xena hears the sound quickly responds by jumping up from the ground and dumping Ares out of her lap where he then rolls down the bank of the river and into the rushing water.

TBC IN CHAPTER FIFETEEN….

Reviews are greatly appreciated thanks;p


	15. Chapter 15

Xena spins her body around towards the unexpected sound before fully getting to her feet, one hand touching the ground and the other reaching up to her mouth to return the whistle before she quickly takes off in a sprint towards the trees.

She hastily enters the forest and down the dirty path, causing the leaves lying there to swirl around behind her. When she finally reaches the other side she walks out into the clearing holding her side with one hand and dusting the leaves out of her hair with the other. Then she tilts her head to the side and squints her eyes as she looks across the field and past her camp to the group that was rapidly approaching.

As she trots down the little incline on the edge of the camp, wild flower petals float around her face from a gust of wind that playfully pushes her hair off her shoulders and down her back. The sounds of hammering and shuffling of canvas also floats in the air as she passes the tent area and she waves at a group of soldiers hard at work.

In confident timber toes, she finally gets to the cooking space where a group of hunters wander by her each holding rabbits in their hands, all excitedly discussing how successful the hunt was and that there would be plenty to eat for meal time. Xena carefully observes the tree limbs that are already holding stringed up rabbits that have been recently trapped.

A smile crosses her face as she listens to the chatter of the cooks gathered around the makeshift tables, ready to skin and prepare the rabbits for the stew that is to be served for dinner tonight. A couple of women pass with wooden buckets of water from the river on their heads, and fill up the big black pot on the fire.

A few yards ahead of her are the wagons, all lined up on the camps perimeter, blocking the view from the dirt road. She squeezes past between a couple of them to the outer side and then leans back against the closest to her, fidgeting with her fingerless gloves and wrist bands as she awaits for the group to approach.

The Warrior Princess stands at her full height as she examines the men, women and a handful of children looking back at her with dirty, sweaty faces. The smell of smoke from their clothes hits her square in the face.

She motions to the soldiers standing to the side of the group.

"Get these people into camp and get them something to eat and find them a place to sleep." she orders the watch as the soldiers usher the group through the wagons.

She is now busy watching the group move pass the wagons and into the camp when she suddenly feels a tap on her shoulder. She instantly goes into defensive mode and jumps into the air and spins around kicking whoever is standing behind her right in the face. Then, once her feet are planted back on the ground, she finally looks back to see who was the fool that dared sneak behind her back, just to double over in a gale of laughter when she sees a very unamused God of War with soak and wet clothes, hair dripping down his face, lying in the grass in front of her with a bloody lip.

Xxx

As Canis takes a sit at his worktable, he begins studying his maps when a knock on the tent pole outside suddenly brings him out of his musings.

"Enter" he commands and turns around to greet his visitor.

One of his servant girls ducks under the fur hide door and stops seemingly frozen the instant their eyes meet.

"I brought your dinner sir." she says in a low whispery voice, her eyes now aiming at the floor of the tent.

"Well don't just stand there like an idiot put it over there on the table!"

She tucks her elbows into her body tight as if trying to make herself as small as possible and her knuckles gradually turn white from griping the tray as she obeys and makes her way over to the table in question. After she puts the tray on the table she turns around to leave but before she gets very far the warlord grabs her around the waist and pulls her into his body. His arms wrap tightly around her and his lips assault her neck as his hands move down her legs and up her skirt.

An intrusive knock from outside his tent interrupts him though before he can continue. His hand returns from her lower body and roughly grabs her arms and then he shoves her towards his cot on the other side of the room.

"Come!" he yells and turns back towards the door ready to verbally punish whoever it was.

When his captain steps in from the furs he gets up and goes to the folded out table. Canis unrolls the map that he has been studying earlier. When he looks to the other man, he observes his captain looking over at the girl across the room laying in his bed.

"She's for later after our business has been conducted." he laughs and elbows his Captain in the arm. Then he clears his throat to get his attention and they focus to the map stretched out across table, instead.

"I want you to take our army to this village in the morning; we need supplies for the army."

He eyes his captain then continues.

"Burn it down afterwards… no survivors."

The captain nods he understands perfectly what his task is then turns to leave, pausing at the door of the tent for a split second and throwing a glance at the frightened girl then at the warlord before he ducks to leave the tent.

Canis takes his hand off the map which then rolls up automatically and settles on the edge of the table. He laughs as he slowly makes his way across the room towards the girl while unbuttoning his shirt. When he reaches the bed he notices that the girl is trembling like a leaf, cowering in the corner.

He throws is shirt to the floor and starts working the ties on his pants, also unlacing his boots which he carelessly throws over his shoulder. He then places his knee on the side of the bed and reaches out and grabs the ankle of the girl and she lets out a loud cry as he pulls her towards him.

Meanwhile, outside the tent, the Captain that has just exited the tent stops short in his path at hearing the scream. He finally realizes what is going on. He looks up at the sky, mumbling something to himself, then wipes a tear that runs from the corner of an eye to his cheek and continues on his way.

Xxx

As usually, Hermes is resting on his side on top of the white puffy cloud in the sky, fanning himself with a palm leaf. He looks down on the small burning forest below him just outside of Pynda. He sits up again and giddily laughs to himself while clapping his hands together.

"Now that should keep them busy for a while."

He looks back down at the ground and at the burning forest and notices the soldier's frantically digging ditches between where the fire is burning and the city of Pynda.

"Keep it up you fools! Nothing you do will stop it from reaching the city." 

Suddenly, with a surprised look, he realizes that someone is missing from this army.

"Hmm… I wonder where their General could be?" He muses to himself. "Probably shacked up somewhere with my cousin, doing who knows what." 

He visibly shivers in disgust at that perspective.

"Now for the city."

That being said, he promptly disappears, leaving the soldiers to their ditch digging.


	16. Chapter 16

Xena enters through the fur-lined opening of the tent and is taken aback by the view of an incredibly sexy War God lying on her bed with his arms crossed against his chest, his lips tight and puffed out into a sulk. Her eyes instantly narrow and a wide toothy smile appears on her lips when she remembers the events from earlier today the perfectly executed roundhouse kick resulting in the fat lip the God now wore.

She seemingly ignores his bad mood, making her way over to the corner of the tent, where a table was set up and a bowl of water for washing was placed on top of it.

She knows that there was more bruised today than just Ares' face and she's going to have to make amends for the damage she must have caused to his ego.

Suddenly, the feel of his arms wrapping around her waist makes her jump in surprise, and without even realizing it, she tightens the grip on the rag she was holding, thus squirting water everywhere. The soft chuckle in her ear and then warm kisses trailing down from one side of her neck to her shoulder bone, send goose bumps along her skin where his lips touch.

She drops the rag back in the bowl and twists around in his arms to face him.

"You're in an awfully good mood, considering…."

Her eyes focus on the big black bruise around his eye.

The God instinctively raises his hand to his face and softly touches the bruise, returning her gaze with a smile.

"Yeah well you know…."

He doesn't finish his sentence. Instead, he again wraps her in his arms.

"I have a surprise for you."

She averts her gaze away from his and unwraps herself from his arms and makes her way to the trunk at the end of the bed.

"What kind of surprise?" she softly questions, untying her arm bands and laying them on top of the chest.

Ares shuffles across the room and again stands behind her and starts undoing the chest armor she is so proudly wearing when she raises her arms.

He pulls the armor over her head and whispers in her ear. "Don't worry too much, I know you will like it."

He then moves in front of her and lays the rest of her armor on the chest and stands to his full height in front of her and grins.

"Just trust me, ok?"

He cocks his head to the side with his lips in a pout and flutters his long dark eyelashes at her.

She can't help laughing at his silly antics and breaks into a fit of giggles. "Ok if you put it that way…. But no tricks, promise?"

He agrees and again wraps his strong arms around her waist and they both disappear.

Xxx

Seconds later, they reappear in a cave with a hidden hot spring inside it. Xena walks out of the God's arms and spins slowly around taking in all the crystals that adorn the walls and ceiling of the cave. With a sparkle in her eyes, she gives an approving nod at Ares.

He reaches out to her and removes the straps from her shoulders of the slip she is wearing and lets it drop to the ground. His dark brown eyes roam the length of her body and he bites his lower lip in unvoiced appreciation.

Seeing his reaction, she grins and leans in to him and gives his dimpled cheek a pinch and then makes her way to the hot springs a few feet away.

He watches her until she has entered the spring then removes his own clothes and hastily makes his way into the water.

She watches him making way towards the center of the spring that is only waist deep and moves through it to sit on the bottom of the springs in front of her. She looks lovingly at his expression, but her attention is soon diverted by the bright neon colors of the water reflecting from the crystals above. At her marveled expression, his deep cinnamon colored eyes dance with delight.

With cattish moves, she comes closer to him, never breaking their eye contact when she takes a hand full of water and lets it pour down his chest, hypnotized by the way in which it dribbles down through the dark hair along his torso. She leans into him and passionately kisses his lips, doing her best to hide that sly smile that threatens to brighten her face….

His low moan tells her exactly what she was looking to find out...…She then moves and nibbles down his throat to his chest and follows the trail the water has left behind.

When she reaches his belly button, she playfully tickles the inside of it with her tongue. She can't help silently congratulating her tactics and skills when she feels him grabbing her shoulders and raising her up to him. She instinctively wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. They lock eyes again as he moves to the side of the springs where he sits down in the water with her in his lap facing him, and for the first time in a very long time Xena can say that she feels butterflies in her stomach, a very unique sensation that unwillingly reminds her of their first encounters …. .

He raises his hand and runs his fingers through her long, silky dark hair, only to entwine seconds later his hands behind her head, pulling her closer to him and touching his lips to hers, softly kissing them. She carefully returns his ministrations and parts her lips when she feels his tongue demanding entrance. Their tongues tangle together and their hands start roaming over each other's bodies. She shivers slightly as she feels his strong hands at her waist, gently lifting her up and gradually brings her back down slowly as he fills her. She gasps in his ear as they both start moving in an unbreakable rhythm together. He excitedly licks his way down her neck and further down to her chest, ending by greedily sucking her nipples. She then arches her back, almost ready to reach her peak and he grabs her waist again and starts thrashing faster, eager to reach his own. The sounds of their equally high vocals echoes throughout the cave bouncing off the walls. She leans in his chest and rests her chin on his shoulder and whispers in his ear. "I love you."

Ares wraps her into his arms and then returns her sentiments. Both sated but exhausted, they disappear from the cave.

Xxx

With the morning sun dawning over the mountain peaks, Xena sits on her tall stead on the outskirts of the camp as her army files by, some on horseback and some on foot. As she nibbles on her dry bread for her upset stomach she catches a glimpse out of the corner of her eye the old servant heading towards her.

Maggie walks up to Xena's horse and thrusts up her hand that holds a purple scarf

"If I can't persuade you to stay behind and let your captains handle things at least you can wear this over your mouth and nose."

She shakes the material at her until she snatches it out of her hand and stuffs it under the front of her saddle.

Then Maggie goes to the saddlebags hanging behind Xena's leg and opens them to stuff another bundle inside it.

"This is for later and you'd better eat it too because I will check it when you get back." Then, she reaches up to her saddle and wraps a second water skin around the saddle horn and gives Xena a stern look.

Xena presses her lips together and notices by then most of her army has already passed by so she nudges her horse forward to catch up to her captains leaving Maggie behind.

Xxx

Xena and the small group of soldiers ride up on their horses to the shallow ditches that are being dug by the soldiers who had left a day earlier with the scouts and her captain.

She directs the soldiers in her group to help spell the ones in the ditch then turns to Homer who is sitting on the right flank of her horse.

"Stay here and keep these guys working."

She gives Padon a couple of quick kicks to send them off in the direction of the city. But Padon just stands there in place refusing to move. She reaches down to pat him on the neck when she see that his ears are pointed backwards indicating that he senses some hidden, imminent danger.

She carefully sits up straight in the saddle herself, suddenly aware of a small sound in her ear. She cocks her head to the side, intending to find the source of the noise, while her eyes began to attentively scan the fields around her.

When she hears it again, she yanks on her horse's reins and barrels through the group of soldiers there and jumps Padon across the ditch and then they race away across the fields and towards the woods about a hundred yards away leaving a bunch of stunned soldiers who not only haven't heard the cry for help but don't know what to think of their general taking off like that.

As Xena passes between the first trees of the forest, her eyes sweep around looking for whoever it was that was calling for help. When she sees no one around, she keeps going deeper into the forest.

As she rides along, she keeps her eyes alert to any possible movement around her, and soon, she begins to feel the heat of the fire and the smell of smoke in front of her. She reaches under the front of her saddle and pulls out the bandana that Maggie had given her earlier and ties it around her head and pulls it over her nose and mouth.

The woods around her are beginning to fill up with smoke and she stops her horse. She is hesitant to go any further afraid that she would soon run into the burning forest.

A sudden breeze rustles the leaves around her, blowing hot in her face and pushing the end of her wrap along with her long hair down her back. It also catches the smoke that was forming along the ground and clears it out for a few brief moments.

But it was enough time for Xena to catch a glimpse of someone sitting on the ground in front of her by a tree and then she hears that person yelping again for help.

She kicks Padon into action but before he can move the limbs above her are already on fire cracks and come tumbling down on top of her knocking her off her horse and to the ground.

TBC…

Thank you Xentrya you're awesome

And Thank you everyone that's reading and leaving your comments


	17. Chapter 17

Ares is sitting back on his throne in the Grand Halls of War with his leg hung casually over one side-arm of the chair, a cup of wine in hand. With a bored to death look on his face, he is biting on his nails as he's half listening to the head priestess giving him her daily reports of the temple worshippers and their cheap gifts.

He suddenly freezes in mid motion as he hears a phantom voice whisper his name in his head. He automatically sits up in his chair while he's desperately trying to send his own message back to his Chosen but all he receives in return is silence.

The head priests, who has stopped talking, finally attempts to utter something but she gives up the instant she takes in her Lord's sudden pale complexion and then takes a few steps back to lean against the wall behind her to watch him.

Ares slowly rises to his feet every vein in his body twitching with the rush of his blood. Then with a sweeping arm movement he throws his wine glass and it hits the wall above the priestess' head.

A second later, he vanishes from the room.

Xxx

His face blanches as his wide eyes take in the scene playing out in front of him. His mouth opens and he stammers wordlessly as he watches her tumble from her horse.

His boots stumble against the rocks on the ground as he tries to rush over to catch her on time and as he begins his own fall to the ground, he manages to bring his arms in the air and wrap a force-field snuggly around her body thus protecting her from a too rough impact with the hard soil.

He lands on his stomach in the dirt, but closes his eyes and shakes his head in relief when he realizes that she is safe and sound passed out, that's true, but without a scratch.

He pauses in mid motion of getting up when the sound of leaves close by catches his attention and seconds later a pair of boots appear before him. His eyes trail up the boots and he looks up into the face of the last likely person he would have expected to be there.

"Hermes" he spits out in disgust. He stands up from the forest floor towering at least a head taller than the other God. "I should have known it was you."

He reaches down to brush the dirt from his leather pants but gives his cousin a sideways glance when he notices Hermes approaching. Then, the other God slowly starts circling him.

Ares cocks his head to the side and with a hard smile on his face, his eyes narrow as he sizes up the other God.

Hermes returns to stand in front of Ares and wets his lips, crouches down and suddenly jumps up in the air and into a back flip then lands on a low branch behind him.

Ares head falls forward with an open mouth and his eyes roll back into his head. He laces his fingers and pops his knuckles.

"So… you want to do this the hard way huh?" He asks mockingly before cupping his hands together allowing a blue light to form in his palms.

As he is preparing to aim the blue ball of light at his cousin and knock him square out of that tree, right out of nowhere he feels an unexpected tap on his shoulder.

He spins around to find a young woman now standing in front of him. His eyes curiously roam the deer skins and beads that adore her small body. When he reaches her suntanned skinned face, he stares for a couple of moments into her dark, almost black moons, his own eyes flickering with familiarity as he's mentally flipping through his memories, trying to find out where in the world he has seen her before. He misses the movement of her arms coming from around her back and bringing them up to her face.

What he does notice instead, is her gracious movement as she brings her hands to her mouth, slowly opening her palm. He leans forward to slap her hand away but before he gets the chance, she blows the dust from her hand. He closes his eyes in anticipation of the impact but despite his best of efforts, the powder invades his sockets and sets his irises on fire anyway.

Seconds later, he can already sense his legs sagging beneath him and he stumbles forward to catch himself, but the young woman moves out-of-the-way and then his knees knock together before making him fall next the tree she was behind earlier. The sudden impact with the rough bark of the tree leaves scratches starting from his cheek to his ear when he slides sideways and his body flops to the hard ground…..Before he closes his eyes they are already starting to fade though…

He turns his head and lays his cheek flat on the ground; that's when he sees a blurry animal skin booted foot step over his head and walk towards his Chosen along with Hermes. He can't help wondering where they met and why they are together there, the only thing he understands though judging by their facial expression is that they are arguing over something. A broad smile makes way on his lips….Those fools have actually thought that he would leave her unprotected like that? Hardly does he finish his thought that he sees Hermes grabbing the young woman's arm and they both disappear into the Aether.

It takes all of his remaining energy for Ares to lift himself up on his elbows, tilting his head to the side and closing his eyes in the attempt to calm his fast beating heart. He opens one eye lid first then the other and squints both eyes to make out the indistinct image of Xena that is still lying on the ground. He shakes his head, trying to clear his head.

He gets up on his hands and knees and loses his balance a bit after the first two or three steps but manages to keep his focus on Xena long enough to crawl over to where she still lays.

He sits on the ground next to her to check the burns on her body where the limbs had hit her. He reaches out to touch her and the force field around her instantly disappears. He gasps a breath and swallows the lump in his throat as his fingers trace around the burnt skin on her shoulder and her upper back. He then lifts the upper half of her body and scoots under her and pulls her into his lap, holding her close. Her head falls back into the crook of his arm and when his hand goes to her face to sweep the hair from her visage he finally sees the bruises and the swelling already making an appearance.

The black clouds in the sky above them open up and the rain comes pouring down. Ares hugs Xena to his chest and rocks her back and forth and bends his head down to place small kisses on the top of her head. His wet hair in his face and the drops of rain mingle with the tears on his cheeks running farther down and mixing with the blood from his lip he had cut from falling against the tree.

TBC…..

Thank you Xentrya for all your hard work you are awesome


	18. Chapter 18

Ares is sitting on the dirty floor of the cave with his arms draped over his knees, tapping his fingers together. His gaze slowly glides from the small camp fire burning right in front of him to the area just outside the entrance that he'd found Xena at.   
“Damn it Aphrodite you better not being doing something stupid like getting your hair done, I need you!” he finally explodes, his breath gradually turning into a whisper as he becomes aware of just how desperate the situation really is.   
He returns to the fireside with a few more swears dedicated to his absent sister he has been vainly trying to contact for the better part of the day. He picks up a handful of pebbles from the cave floor and starts tossing them into the flames when he suddenly hears a small moan from the other side of the fire. 

A gust of wind sweeps through the cave and kisses the flames of the campfire and its shadows are softly cast along the rock walls lightening her beautiful features in the dark cavern. He quickly reaches over behind him and grabs the small medical kit he found hours earlier in her saddle bag. He makes his way over to her and bends down to sit by her side.   
He cautiously folds back the horse’s blanket from her body and with jerky hands examines the injuries on her shoulders. Then, with a small sigh he reaches over to the bag and fumbles through it to pull out a glass jar of salve and takes a dab and softly applies it to her burns.   
When he gets to the abrasions on her face, he stops for a brief second and observes her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks. Then with trembling fingers, he reaches out and cuddles her cheek. As her expression softens, her eyes slowly open and adjust to take in the blurry face that’s leaning into hers.   
Their eyes connect and his smirk mirrors her own. He then scoots up beside her and relaxes on his side with his head in his hand and moves his other hand to her hip as she slowly turns towards him in the same position. He takes his hand from her hip and as he brushes her hair back from her shoulder, he tweaks her ear, thus eliciting another smile on her beautiful face.   
Ares licks his dry lips as his eyes roam her face, just too finally settle back on her eyes again. He opens his mouth and then swiftly closes it again. His head bows to look at the ground that makes his long russet curly hair fall, hiding his face from her view for a couple of seconds.

An uncontrollable shutter travels through his body as her long fingers gently comb through his curly locks, impatiently brushing them out of his face. With hooded lids, he glances up into her eyes, as uncontrollable tears start streaming down his face. His bottom lip trembles and as the words he wants to say seem to remain trapped in his throat.   
“I uh...…almost lost you both today.” his low monotone is barely above a whisper. 

She moves her hands out of his hair to his cheeks to wipe away the tears and smiles at him.

“But you saved us and we are alright because of you.” 

He shakes his head and takes a deep breath. 

“I’ve lost my powers….Hermes had some kind of shamaness with him….She did something….” 

Before he can finish his sentence, their bodies go still and they are both quiet. They discreetly smile at each other when, right out of nowhere, the whistles are heard once again. 

Ares slants forward towards Xena and places a gentle kiss on her lips then grabs her medical bags sitting behind him and places it under her head. He covers her back with the blanket and then stares into her eyes.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll see you soon.”  
He then gets up and looks around for a place to hide, finally noticing for the first time another small entrance to the opposite side of the cave. Taking one more look towards her, he smiles and winks. He then heads for the small opening, squatting down and climbing inside it. 

Once he is no longer in sight, with fidgeting hands, Xena places her fingers along her lips and sounds off a whistle to the nearby soldiers. She reaches down and grabs the water skin lying beside her leg and takes a mouthful to wet her dry mouth and to settle the fluttery in her stomach.

She stretches out her legs in front of her and rubs her hands along them to hopefully relieve the tingling running through them. 

Her keen sense picks up the sounds of footsteps outside the cave so she folds her legs back under her and pulls the blanket back around her and waits. 

Not long after, a head pokes inside the main entrance of the cave and a scowls crosses her face as she waves at him.

Bart runs over and squats down beside her and places his hand on her shoulder and one to her face, shocked at the sight of the bruises present on her cheeks. 

"Finally, I'm glad we found you. Are you ok? What happened? " 

“Nothing, I’m fine”   
He turns his head and orders the soldiers standing behind him to start making a travois for the General. 

When he turns back to her, he sees that she was about to overrule his last order. He rapidly places his hand on her arm and leans closer towards her. 

"Perdicus informed me of your situation." 

He turns back to look behind him before he continues. 

"It won't go any further, but since Perdicus isn't here please let me take care of you too."

She purses her lips and fiddles with the blanket around her and then finally nods her head in agreement. She doesn’t like being looked after, but given the circumstances, she doesn’t really have a choice. 

The men had recaptured Paden while others gathered limbs and branches to build the travois. They all stop their activity the minute when, with the help of Bart and another soldier, she slowly comes out of the entrance of the cave. 

Xena restlessly looks around at the surrounding forest, as if scouting the area for an unseen enemy. 

The recent rain had put out the remaining fires and some of the soldiers were shoveling dirt over the smoldering remains on the ground. They continue over to the horse where she was easily helped onto the travois. 

As everyone prepares to move out, Xena takes her time to lay back on the travois and to pull the blankets up to her chin. She fails to notice when the horses start moving, making their way from the woods and the cave. Her empty stare never leaves the cave until it disappears from sight, leaving it far behind in the forest.   
The ride back is slow, slower than she expected it to be, and she falls fast asleep. When she opens her eyes, they are in the middle of their camp. Everyone has gathered around them and they all begin their chatters of questions at once.   
Bart holds up his hand to quiet everyone and climbs down off his horse and signals a couple of soldiers to follow him as he treads back to the travois. He leans down and carefully wraps his arm around her waist, helping her to the ground. It only lasts a split second until the other soldier appears on her other side and she rests her arms over his shoulders and they make their way through the crowd, walking quietly to her tent.   
They enter the tent and move over to the bed, where they effortlessly deposit her on the end and she scoots up and rests back on the pillows. Just then, Maggie steps out from behind the two soldiers standing there with a medical kit in her hands.   
“Everyone out!” the old woman commands, rushing over to lay her burden on the small table beside the bed. Then, she turns to the bed and places her small fists on her hips.   
“Tsk tsk….I guess someone needs to work on her listening skills?”   
She pats the corner of the bed, indicating for Xena to move closer so she could take a look at her wounds.   
Xena moves over to the side of the bed and lowers her shift to bare her shoulders and the burns.   
Maggie tsks some more and reaches over to the medical bag and pulls out a jar of salve. She turns back to her with some on her fingers and begins to smear it on her skin.   
“This is not too bad and won’t take long to heal, you’re lucky. There will be no marks left”   
She wipes her fingers on a piece of linen and twists around to face the opening of the tent.   
“It’s ok to enter now!” she yells and then pulls Xena’s shift back up on her shoulders, as well as the blanket.   
A young girl enters the tent carrying a tray of food, and as she goes by Maggie’s side, her grip tightens, her mouth falling open wide in surprise the instant she notices the woman lying a few feet away…

TBC…..


	19. Chapter 19

Damia’s almost hiding behind her mother's now, as the imperious need to escape that room fills her body, but her legs fell frozen to the spot where she was standing. Her mother elbows her in the side to encourage her to deliver that tray of food she was carrying. She stumbles forward and stiffly walks over to the side of the bed. 

She stops over to place the tray across Xena's lap and sloshes the milk from the glass onto the surface of the tray. "Sorry about that." she mutters in a low whisper as she reaches into her pocket to pull out a rag to wipe up the spill. But as she did this, her long blonde hair falls from her shoulders and brush into Xena’s face. 

Xena's hand instantly goes to rub the tickling of her nose but stops in mid motion when her senses pick up a quite familiar odor. The Warrior Princess grunts and furrows her eyebrows while she is struggling to remember where or when she has smelled it before. 

The girl’s heart races in her chest and she immediately straightens back up to her full height when she notices the odd look that crosses Xena’s face. She then drops the rag onto the bed and offers Xena a watery smile. As she turns to leave, she briefly glances at her mother in passing, rushing out of the tent without saying one more word.

Maggie steps over to take her daughters place and picks the rag up from the bed to finish wiping up a spill on the tray. 

"I swear I don't know what gets into that child sometimes." 

Xena leans back against the pillows and crosses her arms along her chest with a grimace across her face. 

"So…about your daughter…where was she before she came here?" she asks , absently running her long fingers through her thick dark hair and then tapping her fist against her wrinkled forehead while still trying to recall something connected to that perfume.

Maggie scoots the food tray closer to her and takes a sit on the edge of the bed. She picks up the silverware on the tray and gets a spoonful of deer stew and reaches out to grasp Xena's wrist and then places the spoon in her hand.

"You need to eat." she orders and then stands up to smooth out her dress.

"Ah, the last I've heard from her was about two years ago…we were living in the Amazon village. When I left, she stayed behind." she finally answers to Xena’s original question. Then, she pats the bun on the back of her head and looks up into the Warrior Princess’ musing face.

"I'll be back later for your empty tray." she makes sure to add, turning towards the exit and ducking behind the fur lining of the entryway of the tent as she leaves. 

Xena glances her way for a full more minute and then starts taking a few bites of her  
Once she’s done, she sits back on the pillows with a sigh, her body and mind still exhausted from the day’s earlier events. 

She reaches down and rubs her belly and smiles. 

"Well, little one there is one thing that I can do to take my mind off our problems." she softly whispers, caressing her belly again and then gets up on her knees to crawl to the end of her bed. She reaches down and opens the trunk sitting on the floor and pulls out her leather pants and the sewing kit that was placed next to it. 

She walks on her knees back to the pillows and turns to sit back on the bed. Then she reaches over to the lantern and twists the knob to turn the flame higher so it brightens the room. She lays the leather pants across her lap and then picks up a small dagger from the sheath that was buckled to her headboard. 

As she stretches out the leather pants across her lap, she takes the dagger and starts cutting the stitches from their front panel.

In but a matter of minutes though, right out of nowhere, the tent fills up with an unusual bright light. Xena momentarily shuts her eyes against the brightness and when she opens them again her hand goes up to her cheek and she shakes her head.

She blinks her eyes trying to adjust her vision and slowly makes out two muscular arms stretched out before her. She can’t help smiling at him….

XXX

Phillip slouches over the wooden table in the corner of the darkened tavern he was sitting in. He puts his chin on his folded hands as his unfocused gaze glances over to the stage located across the bar room. An over-all relaxation takes over his body and the noisy room fades around him under the effect of a sweet voice singing, filling his heart… 

A watery layer of tears forms on the surface of his bloodshot eyes and his breathing slows as he mentally replays the memories of the past floating across his mind’s eye.

Then, all of a sudden he jumps up from the table, his elbows knocking over several empty mugs to the floor. A firm hand grasps his shoulder, successfully jerking him out of his reminiscing. 

He turns his head and notices that the stranger is holding a plate of food and a cup of coffee that the man graciously places in front of him. 

Looking the King in the eyes, he questions with an all knowing smile. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” 

XXX

Damia rushes around the corner of the tent and accidentally crashes right into a muscular chest. She looks up in surprise, only to discover the face of Hermes himself standing in front of her. She puts her fingers to her lips to shush him and then motions for him to follow her. They walk quietly through the dark, skillfully avoiding the other people milling around the campfires until they reached the outskirts of the camp and enter her mother's tent. 

Damia then turns to the God and grins. “Guess who’s army camp this is?” 

Hermes walks around the tent touching this or that seemingly uninterested in what the girl has to say when he finally turnes his attention back to her.

“ I’ve been looking for you, wondering where you had gone off too.” 

She walks closer to the God and places her arms around his waist and peers up into his eyes. 

“I know and I’m sorry about that but your anger over the events of what happened in the forest scared the living daylights out of me, so I went into the nearby village and heard of this army camp nearby. So I took the chance that the woman you were looking for was here. I didn’t know my mother would also be with them.”

With a glassy stare, he studies her face for any signs of lying. When he discovers none, he reaches around to her hands around his waist, grasping her fingers and prying them from around him, brutally giving her a shove to the ground. 

“I am only here for business, not pleasure. You said Xena was in the army camp; now we need to figure out a plan to capture her without raising anyone’s suspicions. Especially to my cousins Ares.”

Just behind the tent Maggie sags against a tree in the dark, vigorously rubbing her trembling arms. A blanched expression one her face, she’s staring out into night as the words she has just heard ramble through her head…


	20. Chapter 20

Looking up into the brown eyes of the other man, Phillip starts saying that he indeed knows him, but before he could get the words out he realizes that his own vision is starting to blur and then the dizziness that follows slowly starts to overtake him as he feels himself falling to the floor.

The next apparition that fills his vision is that of that of her blue eyes staring into his and he feels her soft lips touch his for a brief moment than the caress of her soft skin as she takes his hand in hers... He looks behind him at the forest of trees and follows the rocky dirt path that she's now leading him down on... 

Awhile later, they come out from the side of the trees and into a green meadow. She spins around to face him and grabs his other hand. He looks at her face and down at her luscious lips that he has a sudden, barely controllable urge to kiss, but then he notices that she is speaking to him, but he couldn't make out her words. 

She then releases his hands and punches him hard in the shoulder, then turns and takes off running, and all he can do is to stand there in place and rub the sore spot on his arm while restlessly watching her run across the meadow and down to the serene lake that had a waterfall across it. 

The scene playing before his eyes becomes fuzzy and starts to spin around in a circle. Phillips' eyebrows furrow and he blinked his eyes open. He sits up and realizes he is in an unfamiliar small room lying in bed. His hand goes to his forehead in reaction to the throbbing pain there.

Xxx

She lets out an ear-piercing squeal as she throws the sewing in her lap onto the floor as she climbs to her feet and steps to the end of the bed. Then with a big leap in the air she lands into his arms and he catches her and spins her around as she wraps her legs around his waist. Their foreheads press together and she slowly devours his lips with hers. He turns them around and he sits on the side of the bed with her in his lap. He lays back onto the bed and pulls her with him to his chest and they look at each other and exchange smiles.

She slips down and relaxes her head onto his stomach and he twirls her bangs around his fingers. He sighs when he thinks about the day before and then he offers up his thoughts about what happened.

"I think my cousin is working with some shamaness. She blew some kind of powder into my face, that's how I lost my powers."

She lets her fingers caress his rippled muscles and the dark curls of his chest. She carefully takes into consideration his conclusion before asking:

. "Did you happen to recognize her?"

He stares blankly into space while trying to remember anything about the young woman that stood out in his mind. Then he finally answers.

"No she wasn't anyone I've seen before."

He takes a long drawl of breath and looks down at Xena and grins.

Xena rises to her hands and knees and crawls up next to him and lays her head down onto his arm and wraps her arm around across his chest. She places a soft kiss upon his cheek.

"You saved us that day and I love you for it."

Ares shakes his head and looks away from her and lets out a short breath.

She grabs his chin and pulls his face back towards her to look into his eyes. The exchange between them is a silent acknowledgement. No longer is there need for words. They draw closer to one another and Ares ducks his head and captures her lips with his. Then he rolls her over and hovers over her. He pauses for a few minutes to study her face and bends his elbows to lower himself to place a kiss on her forehead.

He then slides down her body and rests his chin on her belly. His fingers lightly caress her skin as he whispers. "Hey in their baby…this is your daddy…me and your mommy can't wait to meet you.

Xxx

Damia makes her was down the worn dirt path through the clump of trees. With a bucket in her hand, she is heading to the river to fill it with water.

She steps onto the sandy beach of the waterway but stops short in her tracks to look at the shirtless young man standing in the middle of the brook rinsing out his clothes.

She glances in his direction for a few more moments than averts her eyes to the ground as she continues to the water. She drops the bucket into the water to fill it but steals a few more cautious peeps in the soldier's direction.

Damia then retrieves the full bucket of water and sets it on the ground. Then she sits beside it and starts to take off her shoes.

She dips her bare feet into the water and relaxes back on her hands and closes her eyes. She tilts her head back to feel the sun on her face as the warm breeze blows back her long blonde hair away from her face and the smell of fragrant flowers that grow nearby passes through her senses.

She unwillingly jumps at the sound of this voice when she realizes he was asking her a question. She sits back up and looks in his direction.

"I'm sorry did you say something?"

The young man smiles and grabs his shirt from the water to wring it out. Then, he shakes it out as he splashes through the water and over to the girl and puts his shirt on as he takes a seat beside her.

"I asked you your name."

"Oh, Damia." She says as she stretches out her legs in front of her and taps her ankles together.

"That's a beautiful name Damia, my name is Casey." He says while fiddling with his shirt as he tries to think of another question to ask.

She looks over to study the boy. "So you're with the army too?"

"Yes, I'm a soldier with the army." He nods his head. "Do you live here in the village?"

She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose

"No, my mother is the caregiver to the General."

He smiles then picks up a few pebbles from the ground and tossed them one by one into the stream.

"Ah, I wouldn't want that job. I heard she was a real hard ass."

"Yes maybe, but my mother seems to enjoy it." She replies with a merry giggle.

They both sigh at the same time having ran out of things to say. Then Damia gets up from the ground and dusts the sand from her dress.

"Well, I guess I'd better get this water back to camp for the cooks."

She bends down to retrieve the bucket and holds it in her hands. Casey jumps up from where he has been sitting.

"Here, let me get that for you. I'm heading back myself. Then he reaches out and takes the bucket from her.

"Thanks."

They exchange smiles and turn to head back to the army camp…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	21. Chapter 21

Phillip awoke with a jerk from the sound of muffled voices coming from the outer room. He groans as he sits up on the side of the bed and puts his elbows on his knees and rubs his face trying to relieve the headache that has been most likely brought on by last night's drinking. Then he flexes his fingers and runs them through his hair.

When he looks up again, he notices that across the room, a fire was burning in the fireplace and a tea kettle is sitting on a little table, between two chairs with a couple of cups and a small tin of herbs for tea sitting beside it.

Phillip grabs the tea kettle and puts it on a hanger over the fire and then turns to sit in a nearby chair. He leans back and rests his head back against the chair.

He listens to the noise of the people outside in the tavern and smiles to himself as he remembers his time there not long ago.

The whistle of the tea kettle shakes him out of his reminiscing and gets up to go over to retrieve it from the fire.

As he turns to a small table to prepare his tea, there's a knock on the door.

"Come in." He says, turning around to see who his visitor might be when he hears the door open. A smile crosses his lips when he sees a familiar face standing in the doorway.

The other man makes his way over to him and reaches out his hand in greeting.

"Phillip it's been too long!"

They grasp arms and Phillip clears his throat.

"Yes Toris it has been awhile since I last visited. Not since…" The rest of his words get caught in his throat and he takes a sip of tea to wash it down. He looks up at Toris, obvious sadness in his eyes and then turns to sit back in the chair he was in earlier.

"Phillip you do know that my sister isn't here now, she took off out-of-town shortly after you did and we haven't heard from her since."

Toris grabs a cup from the table and makes himself a cup of tea then takes the chair opposite of Phillip.

Phillip blows on his tea as he ponders what his friend has said. "So you haven't heard anything from her in all these years?"

Toris adjusts a bit in his chair as he brings his foot up to rest on his other leg and takes a sip of his tea. He shakes his head in answer to his question.

"We were hoping that she has gone to find you, her being so young we were worried that she would get into trouble."

Phillip closes his eyes and he remembers the painful memory of that day. When he looks at Toris, again, his eyes are moist with tears.

"No she wouldn't have been able to find me because I returned to my ship that night and we sailed out to sea immediately."

Their conversation was interrupted by another knock on the door and then an older woman comes through it and walks over to stand in front of the two men. She places her hands on her hips as she studies Phillip sitting in his chair.

"King Phillip it's nice to see you again… However, where is my daughter and why isn't she with you?"

The two men exchange glances then they both look up at Cyrene with a grim look on their faces.

XXX

Damia leans back against the post of the paddock fencing where the horses were temporarily kept while the army is in camp. She watches as Casey cleans out his horse's hooves preparing it for the trip. She found out after a late night talking session by the campfire that he was one of the outriders and that his job was to protect the wagon train on the trails.

Casey finishes up with his chore of cleaning the debris out of the hoof and then sets it easily back on the ground. He straightens a bit to stretch out his back when he suddenly felt a soft touch to the back of his arm. He half turns, finding Damia standing there with a horse brush in her hand.

"Thanks." He says, taking the brush from her. "We have a couple of extra horses. Would you like to ride one?"

She nods her head yes and looks in the direction of the two horses to make her choice. She points Casey to the smallest horse in the pen. She watches as Casey walks over and captures the small dappled gray filly with the black and white mane and tail.

He adjusts the halter around her muzzle, hooks up the tether and then leads her back over to where Damia's feet straddle the bottom rail of the fence. She leans over the top rail to pet the little stead.

"Aww she's so cute. I love her."

Casey couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his throat as he watches them together. "Yeah, I guess she might have come from one of the many small villages we have passed, she was found following after the extra horses we have tied to the back of the wagons."

Casey walks over to a wagon holding all the supplies for the animals that are parked close by the fencing and retrieves gear for a small horse. When he arrives back at the horse with his load, he sees Damia brushing her. He adjusts the gear in his arms and leans into Damia's back to whisper into her ear.

"If you're going to ride her I need to get her gear on."

Damia turns and giggles when his breath tickled her ear and she then moves to the front of the horse so she wouldn't be in the way. She cups her hand under the horse's mouth and lifts her head to look into her eyes and pets her muzzle with the other hand.

"I think I'm going to name you Star."

Casey finishes fixing the gear to the horse and then rest his elbows in the saddle. "That would be perfect given that she has a star on her forehead would it? That's so original."

Damia pats the steed on the neck and comes to the side of her where Casey is standing.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

She puts her foot in the stirrup and a hand on the saddle horn and pulls herself up onto the back of the horse and sits in the saddle.

Casey steps forward and grabs the reins.

"No ma'am." He replies, tossing the reins up over the horse's head and into Damia's hands. He then laughs and starts towards his own horse and mounts him.

Casey notices the scouts riding out behind them and he knew it was almost time to go.

"Come on we better go find the wagons, looks like the troops will be moving out soon."

Casey turns his horse in the right direction and nudges him with the heels of his boots and trots off in the direction of the wagons with Damia following closely behind…

XXX

Xena was sitting on a big log by the last of the campfires that are still burning in their camp, enjoying a cup of tea waiting for the troops to finish loading up so they could head out.

Judging by the expression on her face, she has already sent the scouts out ahead of them to look for any trouble that they might run into. She takes a drink of tea and then appears over the rim of the cup when she hears the horses and wagon they were loading start moving and watches as Maggie steps upon the back of it.

Finally, she says to herself, it was about time for them to come take down her tent. They were ready to go. She casually throws the remaining tea from her cup onto the small campfire as she gets up from the log, when, right out of nowhere, something catches her eye, something hanging from a low branch of a tree near her tent.

She takes in a deep breath and moves forward, her eyes narrow in curiosity and she walks over to the tree and sees that it's a satchel that she'd seen Maggie carrying earlier.

She reaches up to retrieve the bag from the tree but when she tries to pull it down the strap gets hung up on another branch and breaks scattering its contents all over the ground at her feet.

She curses under her breath as she squats down to pick up the items and put them back into the bag when something shiny attracts her attention. She picks the chain up and holds it up in her palm and looks at the design that was engraved on the wolf head shaped locket.

"Hmm… I wonder." She whispers. Then, she leans back to sit on the heels of her boots and reaches down to dig in the pouch around her waist. She pulls out a dagger she found in the weapons wagon the day they had left the city. She holds it next to the pendant that is still in her palm and lets out a deep sigh when both the dagger and the pendant do indeed have the same symbols of the eagle, wolf and the lion. She rocks off her heels and sits on the ground. "Well, I be damned it's been you the whole time. But what could you be after?"….


	22. Chapter 22

The sounds of the warning whistle can barely be heard above the thunder that's roaring in the distance. Dark clouds are now rapidly rolling across the sky overhead and would soon bring rain down on the army.

Xena rises up in her stirrups to appear ahead to where her scouts are waiting. Then she nudges her horse into a trot, and passes the vanguard who quickly follows behind her. They trot the horses up to where they finally meet the scouts.

"What did you find?" she asks them as she pulls her horse up beside the others.

"General, we're at the mountain pass." the scout smiles gently, knowing they are half-way to their destination.

Xena looks ahead, in the direction the scout is pointing, and her gaze falls on the valley full of trees below the Rocky Mountains.

"We need to find shelter soon before the storm gets here so we need to navigate down into the valley." she mutters in an unhurried voice.

She turns back to the waiting army then whistle and waves her arm in the air for them to continue on to her.

She then jumps down off her horse and her captains do the same. They walk over to the edge to look down the path they are going to take to the valley.

"Looks a little steep but I think we'll be able to get the wagons down it." she says after a short pause. She turns to Bart. "Get everyone out of the wagons and have them walk down the path; it will be safer that way."

She turns and pats Bart on the shoulder and walks back to her horse and mounts him. When the rest of the army comes into hearing distance she stands up in her stirrups.

"Everyone get ready to ride down the trail into the valley." she announces. "It may get a little rough."

Then she rides her horse over to a clump of trees close to the trail they are going to take. She dismounts and walks over to take a seat under the tree and leans back against it.

Right out of nowhere, Ares appears seated next to her, visible to her eyes alone. There is silence between them as he follows her gaze over to the healer's wagon. All this time, Maggie has been busy at the back of wagon preparing what looks like lunch – most likely meant for Xena.

Xena leans forward and brings her leg up then circles her ankle with her hands.

"I'm not eating anything that woman prepares anymore." she whispers to Ares.

"What? Why? You will eat everything she brings you. She's here to take care of the both of you." Ares bits back, while still watching Maggie preparing her basket.

"Yeah well what if I told you that she was the woman you saw working with Hermes? The one who attacked you." she answers back through clenched teeth.

"I'd say you're wrong. I handpicked her just for you. I'm never wrong about these things especially people."

"And you think I am?" she counters under a noisy breath.

"Look, you're just wrong this time, that's all" he says. Then, with a gentle smile he jokingly ads "Maybe the pregnancy is throwing your…your stuff out of whack or something. I don't know. You don't have to worry I am here to take care of you and our baby."

Xena gives him an indulgent stare then watches as Ares makes a food basket appear out of thin air and then sets it in front of her on the ground. "Here then." he says. "If you're that worried about it I will give you whatever food you need." He grins at her for a moment then leans over and kisses her on the nose and shakes his head. "Women!" Then as he leaves in a flash of blue light.

Xena reaches into the basket and takes one of the meat sandwiches and some fruit then leans back against the tree to eat as she waits for the army to finish working.

XXX

Phillip is sitting at the bar in the tavern, gazing musingly at Toris who is carelessly cleaning mugs with a rag. As if to plunge him out of his reverie for a couple of seconds, Cyrene comes out of the swinging door from the kitchen with an arm full of clean mugs and sits them down nosily onto the counter surface in front of them. Afterwards, she clinks her tongue at them- without uttering on word- and returns to the kitchen.

Phillip grabs one of the mugs she has brought in and turns it in his hands while he studies it with an apparently interested air.

"I don't know why she is so mad at me….." He says with a sigh. "It's not like your sister does anything anyone ever tells her to do anyway."

Toris can't help chuckling at that comment and turns to place the mug in his hands on the shelf behind the bar. Then grabs another mug to clean. "She thought…we really thought when she left town that she was going after you. She was very upset…"

Phillip shakes his head then takes his eyes from the mug to look at the other man.

"I think she made it perfectly clear when she turned down my proposal of marriage that she didn't want to be with me."

Toris pauses a bit in cleaning the mug and then leans forward and rests his elbows on the bar in front of him.

"Yeah… well what exactly happened between you two…I genuinely thought you were happy together? You sure looked happy…"

Phillip leans back on the barstool and crosses his arms against his chest. "I don't really know…I thought we were happy together too."

He then shakes his head again and his eyes cast down to the floor.

"Have you seen here since then?" Toris inquires, turning his head to the kitchen door, making sure his mother isn't standing there listening. "In the past five years I mean, since you left."

Phillip tugs nervously at his short hair first, then rubs the back of his stiff neck before he answering the obviously uncomfortable question

"Ok look, after I left here I went back out to sea with the navy for another two years."

He sighs at the memory, returning his hands to the glass mug that is still placed in front of him. "I…uh" he audible swallows then continues. "….I didn't take her reject well."

Toris puts the mug and rag he has been holding in his hands for quite some time now. Then comes around to stand behind Phillip. He puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The warmth of Toris' hand makes his voice break even more "I got word one day that my father…was dying and wanted me to come home, back to the kingdom."

Toris just gazes at him sympathetically, unsure of what to say to console his friend.

"My ship docked in the port city of Pynda and I bought a horse for the long journey home."

Toris takes the stool next to his friend and sits in front of him.

"I'm sorry Phillip…. I didn't know your father was sick."

The king covers his face with his hands and wipes his eyes with his fingers.

"When I got there, there was nothing I could do for him…He was very sick. He died shortly after I arrived." He turns to Toris with a pale face around an empty stare. "But there was something else…someone else I found there too."

He's now staring down at his trembling hands and when he continues, his voice is but a flat monotone. "Your sister was there and she was part of my father's army. She had been living there at the castle, all along. It was surreal really…I thought…I thought it must be fate. That it was a sign that we really did belong together…but… she had already found someone else…

The king finally breaks down into a hysterical cry and pushes Toris away from him as he gets to his feet. His face, full of sorrow and stained with tears he stares blankly at Torris for a little while, then glances around the room. He turns and hurries out the tavern doors, without saying a word...

Toris glances up to where Phillip has been sitting a few seconds ago and he finds his mother standing in the doorway of the kitchen, tears streaming down her face.

XXX

Phillip steps out of the tavern door and into the sunshine of the day. He instantly takes off to the barn sitting next to the tavern that is usually reserved for the horses of the borders that rent a room.

When he enters the barn, his loyal horse welcomes him with a long neigh .Phillip goes to the wall where all the horse's gear is kept and grabs a halter. He continues over to his horse and pats him on the neck before he fixes the bridle on him. He then leads him from his stall and out the barn door.

He takes one last look at the tavern from his past then climbs onto the bareback of his horse and then kicks his horse to go.

He trots through the streets of the town until he reaches the outskirts then he slaps his horse with the end of the reins and the horse breaks out into a run.

Hours later, he is surprised to find himself at the ocean's edge when, given the fact that he had no real destination in mind when he left town earlier.

He throws his leg to the side and leaps off his horse and walks to where the sandy beach begins. He sits down on the ground to remove his boots and places his bare feet under the sand and then wiggles his toes as he lays back on his hands and tilts his face skyward. He studies the dark clouds rolling across the sky and sighs at the possibility that it was going to rain soon.

The sudden sound of laughter interrupts his musings of the dark clouds. The curiosity of someone else on the otherwise empty beach gets the best of him making him stand up from the sand, scanning the place to find the other person.

He walks down the beach closer to the water and sits up on a big boulder on the bank. He pulls his knee up and circles his ankle with his hands and tilts his head to the side as he takes in the site of the beautiful dark haired woman playing in the surf of the ocean.


	23. Chapter 23

The midday meal at Cyrene's tavern is finally winding down as the crowd mixes with townsfolk and a few guests begin taking with assault the front door.

Cyrene casually takes a seat at a reserved table for her family that usually sits in the back of the room closest to the doors that lead into the kitchen.

She spends a few minutes studying the crowd with a pained look on her face, eying especially the men that seemed to have around her daughter's age. A dark frown covers her face and she bites her bottom lip as she thinks of all the lost opportunities.

She soon replaces her slack expression with a stony one and smiles bitterly at her son as he puts his tray on the table and switches his daughter to the other arm so that he can sit down in the chair across from his mother. His wife, Agnes, follows him and takes a sit in the chair next to him.

Cyrene can't help the way she feels and props her elbows on the table top and presses her finger to her temples.

"I thought they were together….that he was taking care of her." Cyrene replied.

She leans back in her chair and glances at her plate in front of her then reaches down and picks up the roasted lamb.

"That's what helped me sleep at night all these years." she bitterly confesses.

She then glances at her grandbaby sitting in her father's lap sucking her thumb across from her and she softly smiles at her.

"A lot of things have changed since she left."

Cyrene takes her cup and reaches over the table and pulls the thumb from the little girl's mouth with one hand and then gives her a cup with the other.

"I thought she would settle down here and I'd have a few more grandbabies, but who knows what kind of mess she's in or what she's been doing all this time."

Toris clears his throat then grabs his mother's hand and holds it in place atop the table.

"Phillip did tell me where she was at."

Cyrene pulls her hand back away from his and sits back in her chair and lifts her eyebrows in response to what she has just heard.

"And where would that might be?"

Toris lifts his daughter from his lap where he'd been sharing his plate of food with her and places her in her mother's lap beside him. He rests his arms back on the table and claps his hands together and lets out a short breath unsure of what his mother's reaction was going to at hearing the news.

"Apparently your daughter…my baby sister…has joined the Grecian army and lives in Macedon." he chuckles and runs his fingers through his dark hair. "According to Phillip at least…she has met someone else but he didn't go into great detail about that subject…he was pretty upset with her."

He studies his mother's blank face for a few moments. Then, stands from his chair and gathers the empty plates, heading for the kitchen to wash them.

While Agnes starts cleaning her little girl's fingers, she exchanges a worried look with her mother in law, then shrugs her shoulders in response to her husband's words.

Cyrene sighs and clicks her tongue at the tone of thoughts whirling through her head

XXX

Xena stands tall on the edge of the overhang of the cliffs, her hands hanging loosely behind her back and a playful grin on her face.

She signals the soldiers to wait by the horses at the last of the four wagons advances. She finally gives the soldiers an easy nod, and they begin to lead the horse and wagon team down the narrow trail that leads between the rocky cliffs and into the valley.

She suddenly feels his very familiar, warm arms wrap around her waist and the very moment his palms press into her belly, she feels the life she's carrying inside her flutter around. Ares presses his chin lightly into her shoulder and whispers into her ear.

"Hmm…feels like someone wants to say hello."

Xena smiles and places her hands on top of his and the baby flutters around inside her again.

"Seems like it." she responds as she relaxes the side of her face against his.

"Come home with me? I have something to show you…My sister and I have been working on a surprise for you and the baby." he purrs in her ear as he nibbles it.

"I'm working here Ares…I can't just leave." she answers, looking around at all the people milling about, waiting on orders to start down the trail behind the wagons and into the valley where they are supposed to make camp for the night.

"That is what you have captains for right? To take command when you have more interesting things to do, other than your army." he counters as he moves to her neck, passionately kissing it.

Xena sighs deeply and scans the area for one of her captains. When she sees Bart standing nearby she cups her hands to her mouth and yells his name. He quickly responds and in less than a minute he's standing there in front of her.

Xena looks at him for a few seconds while still trying to decide how she's actually going to disappear with Ares without anyone noticing, when she finally realizes that Bart has been standing in front of her with a confused look on his face for awhile now. She seems to have forgotten that she had just called him.

Ares whispers it in her ear to remind it to her. She clears her throat, a little embarrassed that she has slipped up in front of her captain, but she quickly covers it up with orders.

"I want you to get the rest of our crew down into the valley and set up camp for the night." she says, then waits for Bart to give his nod of understanding before leaving her.

Then, she searches the grounds and finds what she has been looking for tied up to some bushes under a canopy of trees. She untangles his arms from around her and walks to the edge of the rock they have been standing on and steps off of it onto the ground. A few seconds later, she makes her way over to her horse through the crowd of people.

She pats Padon on the neck as she mounts him and Ares appears behind her, lovingly circling her waist again. She casually glances at all the people watching her then nudges her horse and heads off into the trees.

When they are out of sight and covered by the trees, she closes her eyes as she already feels the world itself changing around her.

When she opens them again, they are standing together in front of a door, a door that Xena immediately realizes she hasn't seen before. With a very elegant gesture, finally letting go of her, the War God reaches the knob and shoves the door open. He presses the front of his body into her back and they move together into the darkened room, whispering again something into her ear as they advance. She imperceptibly nods her head in agreement, and as the room fills with sudden light, the Warrior Princess inhales sharply at the sight that fills her eyes.

As a wave of exhilarating joy washes over her, she turns into Ares and impulsively throws her arms around his neck, smothering his face with light, butterfly kisses.


	24. Chapter 24

Ares leans against the door frame of the new room, his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of utter adoration lightening up his face as he watches her walk around the nursery, gently touching everything in sight.

After having finished examining a yarn woven tapestry with a portrait of Artemis standing in an exquisite, golden chariot pulled by four golden horned deer she casts a second, considerably longer gaze at the Goddess' symbols: the bow and arrow, the hunting dog, the stag and the moon –that have been all placed in each of the four corners.

She then crosses the room to a baby cradle in the shape of an eagle.

Ares crosses the room as well, and, moving to stand beside her, he runs his fingers down her arm and places his hand over hers on the railing of the cradle.

"Everything in this room, was offered to us by some of my family members."

His hand leaves hers while he keeps caressing the railing on the bed.

"This was from my mother…it was the very one that I had used when I was a baby."

Her head turns instantly and he looks deep into her eyes before he continues.

"The tapestry you have been admiring…that was from Artemis." he grins to himself. "She's so sure it's going to be a girl."

He takes her hands in his and kisses her on the lips.

"But we can continue this later…you need to get back to your army; I think you would be very interested in the latest situation that has appeared. . ."

She nods her head in agreement and wraps her arms around him as they both disappear from the room.

Xxx

They reappear seconds later under some tall trees. Across the road from them was her army, frozen in time where they stood.

The only ones who were aware of this fact was Ares of course, Xena and Padon who was tied to a tree, nearby.

Xena loosens her arms from around his waist and turns to face him. She leans in and slowly kisses his lips.

"I'll see you soon."

She walks over to her horse and climbs into the saddle then looks over at Ares one last time before she clicks her tongue and trots Padon through the tall grass, up the little incline to the dirt road to meet up with her army.

Ares waits until she takes her rightful place in the lead, then unfreezes time and disappears from the area.

Xxx

The warm breeze is lightly drifting among the tall trees along the deserted road, gently lifting the black and white mane of the horse Damia is riding, and twirling the dust from their path into tiny tornados.

"Damn I've got to go," Casey sighed, "it's time to check the wagons again."

He then twirls the horse's mane around his index finger. "It's part of the job, you know..."

He extends his hand out to her and she takes it... "I won't be long."

A big smiles crosses his face and he releases her hand, kicking the pony into a trot as he heads to the first wagon in line.

She watches him for a few minutes then glances at the wagon they have ridden behind most of the day.

She looks at her mother's relaxed body leaning back against the cart wall, her head swaying with the movements of the wagon.

She maneuvers her horse closer to the carriage and bites her bottom lip to stop the trembling as she judges the distance that she is going to have to jump from the horse to the wagon.

She gulps down a breath of air as she eases her shaking leg over the saddle horn to rest it next to her other leg.

She feels a rush of adrenaline rush through her veins as she brings her legs into a crouch position and then leaps from the horse and lands inside the cart slamming against the opposite wall that her mother is leaning on.

She calmly studies her mother's face, making sure she is still asleep as she slides across the wagon bed on her side and sits up next to her mother.

She takes a deep breath before she slowly reaches out to put her sweaty palm on her mother's wrist and lift it off the bag, grabbing the satchel with the other hand.

Then, she places Maggie's arm back on the carriage bed and leans back on the wagon wall, taking a couple of quick puffs of air.

Not wanting to waste any time, she opens the bag and starts rummaging through it. When she doesn't immediately find what she has been looking for, she turns the bag upside down, pouring the contents out onto the bed of the wagon. She sits back on the heel of her boots and drags the palm of her hands up her thighs as dread creeps into her stomach.

As she begins going over that day's events, trying to figure out where she has placed her pendant, she suddenly remembers that her intention was to put it in her mother's bag to keep it safe while she went swimming with Casey. She flinched when she feels a warm hand grabbing her arm.

She turns her head in a blink and looks at the confused on Maggie's face. Then she shakes her head in short jerky movements as she anxiously starts to mutter something to herself. Her hands keep fumbling through the items from the bag once again, though, despite her mother's presence.

"Whe…where is it?" she chokes out.

She looks back at her mother, her face pallid, her eyes wet with tears. But before Maggie can answer, her they both jerk back from each other and turn to the sudden warning whistles that a rider is vastly approaching.

Xxx

The warning whistles passes down through the vanguards.

Xena shades her eyes with her hand and looks across the prairie then glances up at the sky to judge the position of the sun.

She hops off her horse and rests her arms on the saddle. She grabs the water bag that is draped over her horse's back and takes a drink.

"We'll stop here and find out what's up with the scout that's coming in." She says to the soldiers around her "Meanwhile get the wagons off the road and to the side."

Then, she turns and swings around to grab the reins and leads her horse over to a shade tree while she is waiting, closely followed by some of the mounted soldiers.

She fastens the reins to the saddle and pats the horse on the butt to encourage him to go graze nearby. She turns and sits with her back against the tree and watches as the other soldiers take a seat around her.

Xena stretches her legs out in front of her and crosses her ankles. "When we find out what the scouts have discover, I want just the mounted soldiers to ride ahead."

She glances around at all the faces turned towards her. "The others will stay back and guard the wagon train."

That being said, the rider reaches them and jumps off his horse and walks over to them.

Now standing in front of the others, someone hands him a water skin and he takes a long drawl off of it. "General, there's trouble with some renegades up ahead."

Xena stands up and dusts the back of her leather pants off and looks to all the men.

"I want you to take swords and bows with you… And get ready for a fight…"

She walks over to the scout and clutches his shoulder with her hand. "Feel up to another ride?"

The scout nods his head and runs to collect his horse along with everyone else getting ready for the trip.

Xena walks over to her horse that is still munching on some grass nearby and swings up into the saddle. "Let's move out!" she shouts and clicks her tongue to get her horse moving forward.

The group trot their horses about a candle mark down the road from where they have left the wagons. The scout leading them finally points to a path that leads off the road and down into the woods.

She slides down from her horse and scans the area around them. "We walk from here." She grabs her water bag and tosses it over her shoulder then grabs her horse's reins and walks it over to some bushes and ties it up.

When she's done with that, she waves the soldiers to follow her down the path and into the woods.

As they walk further into the woods Xena holds her hand up and stops when she hears voices close by. She puts her finger to her lips and motions towards the trees and off the path for more cover.

When they reach an edge of a clearing Xena turns and presses her back against the tree so she's facing the other soldiers.

She pulls her right ear lobe and holds her hand sideways with three fingers out and then points up into the trees.

The bowmen sling their bows on their backs and start climbing the trees and use the method of tree walking, jumping from one tree to another to surround the camp.

Xena gives the hand signal for the others left to find a tree to hide behind and wait for her battle yell.

Xena peers from behind the tree at the events playing out in front of her and sees that the renegades have rope thrown over a limb of a tree, a noose around a guy's neck with a sack over his head. A few feet away from the man, there's a woman laid face down with her hands and feet tied and a gag in her mouth.

Xena stands to her full height and takes big step out of the woods and into the clearing.

"Well, well what do we have here?" her voice booms off the trees around them. She raises her chin up in the air with a playful smile on her lips.

She watches the men scramble for their swords on their backs in surprise and form a circle around her.

Then other man walks out from behind the guy with the noose around his neck and heads towards the circle which opens up and he steps inside.

He pauses in mid stride when his sight catches hers, then keeps walking, finally stopping when he gets a few feet in front of her. He tosses his long hair back out of his face and offers her a flashy toothy smile, and a little wiggle of his eyebrows.

Her arrogant laugh at his egotistic entrance wipes the flamboyant smile off his face, only to be replaced with a sneer.

To rub it in even more, she then cocks her head to the side, rolls her shoulder to her chin then reaches up with the other hand and pretentiously dusts the General stars on her armband with her fingers.

She adjusts her stance to the balls of her feet and finds her balance as she waits for the right moment.

When the leader finally cracks a smile at her obvious display of brashness, Xena swivels on her foot and jumps in the air, spinning around and kicking the leader in the jaw throwing him back into the circle of guys standing behind him.

When she lands back on the ground she gives her bows man in the tree tops the signal, then she jumps back into the air, flipping and grabbing a limb in a tree nearby.

The arrows buzz by her ear as she pulls herself up and sits on the branch in the tree. She looks down on the men, most of them lying dead on the ground. She then sounds off her battle yell and the soldiers that have been left in the woods come rushing to the clearing, answering their leader's battle yell with one if their own, their swords raised high in the air to finish off whoever was left standing.

Xena stands up on the branch she has sat on and walks out to the end where she begins bouncing, getting up enough momentum to flip to the next tree.

Then, she skillfully jumps down the branch. The rope around the guy's neck appears to be well tied, and with a smaller dagger she always keeps tucked inside her leather band on her wrist, she cuts the man loose. Then, she drops down out of the tree in front of him.

With that done, she reaches up and yanks the sack off his head. She stumbles backwards in shock and lands on the ground. Her wide eyes do a double take of the man standing before her as she mutters to herself a loud "By the Gods!"


	25. Chapter 25

The clearing in the woods grew quiet, the only noise that could be heard was the wind that rustled the leaves in the trees around them.

All eyes are now on the General, each soldier holding their own breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Bart slowly squats behind the woman on the ground and cuts the rope around the woman's wrist and helps her up from the ground.

She pulls her arms out of his grip and rushes over to her friend, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder.

He lifts his arm up and wraps it around the crying woman, then leans forward and reaches his other hand out to help the general up off the ground.

Her cold eyes never leave his as she slaps his hand away and heaves herself up off the ground and stands tall in front of the couple.

Bart clears his throat and walks over to the scout standing around with the other soldiers.

"You need to go back to where we left the wagons and bring them here." he lowly commands in the scout's ear.

"Yes sir," the scout hesitantly answers back, mesmerized by the scene playing out in front of them.

Bart reaches out and grasps his shoulder and gives him a little push to send him on his way and the scout pauses for a minute then takes off running from the clearing.

Then, the captain looks around him at the other soldiers, who immediately continue with searching the bodies of the dead and then start dragging them to other side of the clearing.

Xena sharply pushes her hair back out of her flushed face and gives him a sullen look.

"Phillip? What in Hades' name are you doing out here?" she inquires on a puzzled tone, her eyes moving constantly back and forth between Phillip and the woman cuddled in his arms. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

She immediately regrets the way the words sound to her own ears. She thought that she had finally managed to put him and those feelings behind her and didn't want him to think otherwise.

Her mouth quickly snaps shut as she grimaces at the pair. A smile as fake as Solstice on a summer day, but she does it anyway…

Then, she turns away from them but suddenly feels Phillip grabbing her other hand and she snatches it out of his grasp.

"Never mind." she nervously laughs, then continues up the path through the woods.

"Bart take care of them." she yells without even looking back.

She hears the movements of the soldiers behind her as she reaches the edge of the woods and disappears into the trees.

Phillip remains there unmoved, briefly exchanging a look with the woman in his arms, then casts a puzzled look at where Xena has disappeared in the trees.

Xena starts jogging back down the path through the woods they have taken earlier. When she is out of the others' sight, she launches herself into a series of back flips. After the fourth one she finally stops for a second on the tip of her toes then jumps into the air at the same time pulling her sword out of it sheath, swinging at the branches above in the trees destroying them in her wake.

She lands in a squat on the ground and she falls forward while taking a few gulps of air trying to calm down and shakes her head to remove the burning tears that are still running like rivers down her cheeks.

When she hears horse hooves and wagons in the distance, she stands to her full height, wipes her face with her wrist brace, sheaths her sword and quickly walks down the dirt path towards where they have left the horses.

Xxx

Gabrielle took a seat on the bench, and, after placing a sweet kiss on top of her head, Perdicus decided to keep her company for a while.

It was a rather peaceful afternoon, given the fact that the inn was unusually empty for this time of day – probably under the threat of the war lord.

He gives her a quick glance then scans the room again.

"They should have been here by now." his shaky voice answers her yet unuttered question.

She remains quiet for a while and then reaches out and touches his arm.

"They will be here; besides, you must have noticed by now that trouble always seems to find Xena no matter where she is…"

They share a meaningful smile for a few seconds and end up giggling out loud at the prospect of the words.

"Did I just hear you right?" the man asks as he roughly thumps the mugs full of ale on the table in front of them.

Their conversation being rudely interrupted, Perdicus and Gabrielle break their eye contact and give the man a look of annoyance.

Toris ignores the looks and continues with his ranting. "You're waiting for my sister to show up here?"

The couple share a confused look and Gabrielle turns back to the man.

"If you're talking about Xena, then yes we are waiting for her and the army that she's leading here."

Toris pounds his fist on the table, spilling some of the ale that was still in their mugs.

"That must be the reason Phillip showed up, he must have known she was coming here too." he noisily replies, breathing heavily.

"Phillip?" Gabrielle asks. "You mean King Phillip?" she inquires, emphasizing the word King. "He was here?"

"Yes the very one!" he snaps back. "He was here for a couple of days then just like that, he disappeared without a word, pretty much like my sister did five summers ago."

Gabrielle turns back to her husband and grabs his hand in hers.

"That's what must be keeping them then, they must have run into the King." She gives him a reassuring smile and squeezes his hand with hers.

"Yeah well she better not expect everyone to be glad she's back, especially me." Torris ads, turning back and walking away. He vanishes into the kitchen a few seconds later, as an older woman enters the dining room with plates full of food in her hands.

She sashay over to their table and places the food in front of them.

"Will there be anything else I can get for you?" she asks as she wipes her hands on her apron and smiles as she exchanges looks with both.


	26. Chapter 26

The muddy clouds float across the sky and cover the full sunlight, casting a grey shadow across Ares' pinched face as he rests against a tree at the edge of the woods.

Her footsteps nearby alert him of her arrival just what he has waited for, he says to himself but he has to dig his fingernails into the rough wood of the tree to control the trembling in his arms and to help resist the urge to reach out and touch her when she passes closely by his invisible form.

His eyes dart to her face, and the bitter image of the expression she earlier wore when she discovered that Phillip was the captive of the renegades flood his mind.

She stops just a few feet in front of him and reaches for the water skin hanging on her belt.

He tosses the pebbles in his hand up into the air and then catches them again waiting for her to raise the water skin to her lips, then he nonchalantly lobs them at her and hits her in the shoulder to get her attention.

He chuckles, despite his dark mood, when he sees her startled by the rocks he has thrown and when, squeezing the water skin a little too tightly, she ends up squirting herself in the face.

He relaxes back onto the tree with a big grin of satisfaction on his face, as she turns towards him and they share a knowing look. She vividly wipes the water off her face then walks by him again and leans back on the other side of his tree.

He lifts his leg up and places it against the trunk and begins to pound his thigh repeatedly.

"I uh..." she begins, wanting to break the unnerving silence between them.

At that very moment, the sun comes out from behind the clouds and shines through the leaves of the tree they were under, delicately drawing the War God's shadow along the ground beside her.

She silently watches his shadow as his fist repeatedly strikes his leg, but she just clears her throat and continued.

"….found Phillip."

A growl escapes his throat at the mention of the king's name and his fist ends in mid motion as he swings his body around the tree to face her.

"Phillip!" he sneers at her, "Gods Xena, I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance back in Macedon, I thought everything was over between you two when you decided to be with me."

With a heavy sigh, she casts her eyes to her boots, unable to look him in the face, berating herself for making him feel this way.

"It is…please believe me Ares." she sobs, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, it sure didn't look like it back there in the clearing." he mutters spitefully under his breath. "And then that little show you put on in the woods after you left… Tell me Xena, were those real tears in your eyes?"

She quickly scrubs her face with her hands as if trying to wipe the memory of seeing Phillip when she ripped the bag off his head.

"Please, Ares." she repeats as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

Then the sky opens up and the rain pours out of the clouds, drenching the couple under the tree in the woods.

He quickly shoves his wet hair out of his face as he takes a step closer to her and sticks out his hand to stop her from continuing.

"Forget it. I don't care, anyway. I'm going to take care of this little inconvenience once and for all."

"What?" she incredulously asks, her voice slowly losing power at the meaning of his words.

The thunder rolls overhead, drowning out his rant and he pauses long enough to watch the water drip from her bangs and run down her face. An ugly laugh flees his pursing lips as he wants to so badly tell her exactly where loyalties should lie.

He reaches over to her and puts his hand on her stomach, feeling through her wet clothes the baby respond to his touch.

"I want you to keep your focus on this." he says, rubbing her swollen stomach. "Just remember that both you and this baby belong to me and me alone, no matter what happens to anyone else."

He bends forward a bit more and softly pats her stomach while he tilts his head up to hers and clicks his tongue in her ear before he steps back away from her and disappears.

She remains there alone under the tree, both hands laying on her stomach. The rain soon stops as fast as it started and she stares emotionless at the rainbow appearing far in the distance as the words he last spoke ring through her head, finally making her mind up that she would not interfere this time and just let Fate follow its course, thinking that it might be for the best after all.

Xxx

Later in the afternoon, Perdicus and Gabrielle stumble back in the same inn they ate earlier; they are both tired from strolling through the market place all day. The army still hasn't shown up so they want to book a room to sleep for the night.

They pause for a second to scan the crowded tavern for an empty table, and, spotting one in the back near the kitchen, they step lightly into the crowded and weave through the people in that direction.

With an exhausted sigh, she flops down in a chair and stretches her legs out in front of her. Perdicus takes the seat beside her and puts his hands on her shoulders and gives her a quick massage.

"Boy it's crowded in here tonight," she remarks, placing her hand on his that were still on her shoulders. "Do you think it has anything to do with the army being on its way?"

"Yes, I believe so and the merchant wagons that came into town this morning."

He raises his hand up into hers and gently squeezes them.

Gabrielle tilts her head back and smiles. "Thank you Honey."

She turns and scans the crowd again looking for a familiar face. "I wonder where Cyrene is."

She finally finds her standing at a table full of a mixture of men and women.

Gabrielle waves her arm in the air to get the older woman's attention, and when she gets a nod of her head from her, Gabrielle turns back to the table they were sitting at to wait for her.

Perdicus gets up from his chair. "I'll get us a couple of mugs while we wait."

She watches as Perdicus weaves through the crowd to the bar, and notices Cyrene doing the same as she makes her way towards her.

"Hi there Sweetie, did you have a nice time looking around town today?" she courteously asks, sitting in the chair beside Gabrielle.

"Yes we did actually, but now we are looking for a place to stay the night."

She looks around at all the people again. "With all these people here do you have any rooms available?"

"AH, don't you worry about that, most of these people live here in town, they've just been too afraid to leave their homes but with the word out of the army coming they are coming out in droves." Cyrene answers, patting the back of her head to check her hair.

"Cyrene, how much do you know about the army?"

The older woman gives her a puzzled look before she responds. "Not much I guess, except for the fact that you keep scrolls of their battles and your husband is the captain."

Cyrene half turns in her chair and points to the table she's been at earlier. "Those people over there I was talking to earlier, that's the reeve and the elders of the town, and they want to meet the General when he gets here."

Gabrielle flinched at the word he and smiles at Cyrene. "He?"

"Yes, the General, they can't wait to meet him." Cyrene exclaims

The tavern owner gets up and pats her on the shoulder.

"Looks like that table needs me, I'll talk to you later. Tell Toris to give you any room you want when you see him."

Then she walks away, before Gabrielle can say a word to correct her about the General.

Gabrielle turns around and places her elbows on the table as she shakes her head and giggles to herself. "Boy are these people in for a big surprise."

A mug comes down from behind her.

"Who's in for a big surprise?" Perdicus asks as he retakes his seat beside her with his own mug of ale.

"All these people." she says, swinging her arm to indicate the patrons around them. "They're literally clueless about the General, they think it's a man that's leading the army here."

He chuckles and then takes a sip of his mug. "Well that would be the right assumption."

"Do you think we should tell them or wait and see their reaction when they get here?" She grins at her husband, already knowing what she would choose and hoping her husband would do the same.

"I don't see any harm in keeping it a secret."

"Me either." she quickly agreed. "We are supposed to see Toris about a room."

"Hey, I've seen a few tables out front. Do you want to wait for Xena to show up outside? It's cooler. It's hot in here."

"Sure."

They get up from their table and venture out the side doors of the tavern that lead to a large wooden porch that has a handful of table set up. There are only a few people sitting at a corner table.

They sit down at a table nearest to the railing, high enough to have a full view of the town and the road that lead into the town.

"Well I guess all we can do now is wait."

She looks over at her husband and smiles as he returns her smile with his own.


	27. Chapter 27

Xena couldn't tell how long she'd been standing there, staring at the sky and thinking about what the consequences would be if she were to help Phillip.

She closes her eyes and rubs the middle of her forehead, as she puts those thoughts aside not wanting to think about them at the moment, blowing her cheeks up and releasing the breath she was holding; she suddenly knows what she has to do.

Hearing the army and the wagons approach upon the road from where she's standing, she turns in their direction, and walks towards them as she smoothed out her clothes and runs her fingers through her hair.

As she's climbing up a little incline to the lane, she is met half way by her captain Bart.

"Xena, we're cleaning out the back of one of the Carriages, the King and his companion are resting comfortably in the bed now." he says, turning and pointing at the coach sitting close by them on the dirty road.

She nods her head and then continues up the hill, with Bart following close behind her.

When she reaches the road, she starts in the direction of the cart that Phillip is in, but then suddenly stops, feeling Bart run into the back of her, she tilts her head and looks into his face and gives him a cold stare, then changes direction and walks over to the horse that is hooked up to the dray.

She reaches out and pets the horse on the muzzle then her hands move to his mane and she begins braiding the hairs, just like she usually does before going into any major battle that she leads her army into a very relaxing activity...

Focused on the braiding as she is, she slowly goes over in her head what she is about to say to Phillip, at first in her head then slowly verbalizing the speech, as if needing to convince herself that it was the right thing to do.

She takes another deep breath and nods her head knowing she's finally ready to face him. She releases the braid she has been working on from her hand and turns with a jerk to the back of the transporter and slowly walks towards it.

As she reaches the end of the wagon, she stops long enough to change the pensive look she has worn on her face to a fabricated smile as she swings around the back of the carriage to face him.

But her smile wavers when she sees Phillip with his arms around the woman he was with.

Her lips press together into a grimace, she looks down at the ground as she struggles to find the right words to say.

When her ears pick up Phillip's throat clearing, she looks back up at his face and finds the confidence there that she needs in order to continue.

"I want some of my men to take you to Pynda." she announces in a quaking voice.

Phillip gives her a puzzled look and asks "Why Pynda, wouldn't I be better off just going home?"

"Not yet, just trust me." she replies as she sags against the back of the coach and reaches her hand out to put on his knee, but hesitates and changes its direction to the side rail.

"But what shall I do there?" Phillip inquires, watching her hand, and holding his breath when he thought she was going to touch his knee, then blew it out as it changed direction. "I don't understand why I have to go there instead of going home."

"Phillip." her voice chokes with a sob. "There are Navy ships there in the port."

Her legs begin to shake and become weak at the thought of the betrayal she is about to commit against Ares. "I need you to get on one of those ships and leave Greece as fast as you can."

Phillip sits up and places his hand over hers on the railing of the cart.

"Ok, I don't understand why." he squeezes her hand. "But I'll go and do what you ask."

She looks up and meets his eyes with her teary ones.

"Just promise me when I get back that we will see each other again." he makes sure to add.

Despite her light-headedness, she shakes it and grins. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

She removes her hand from his and pats it before she turns to the troops standing behind her, waiting for orders. She picks out six of them to escort the King and his companion. They mount their horses quickly and then with three on each side, they start down the road with the dray going towards Pynda.

Xena stands in the middle of the road facing in the direction of the wagon watching it disappear down the road as the wave of coldness starts claiming her whole body, and the ringing in her ears caused by the difficulty in her breathing grows louder and louder.

When the carriage is out of sight, she retreats all her worries inward and shouts orders to the remaining body of her army.

"Let's mount up and get moving before we lose any more daylight."

She finds Padon tied to one of the nearby carts and goes over to climb into the saddle, then guides him through the Calvary and stops in front of Bart. She folds her hands on the horn of the saddle and looks into the distance with a scowl on her face.

"Let's keep what just happened between us."

Judging by the sharp tone of her voice, the warning is quite clear. She turns and meets his eyes and raises her brows at him before she kicks her horse forward to the front of the Calvary and they continue down the road.

Hours later, as the sun is setting over the mountains which descended down into the town of Amphipolis, they reach the end of the path they have followed to the edge of a valley,

Xena bites her nails as she watches the sun disappear behind the mountains surrounding her village.

"Xena," Bart rides up on his horse behind hers, and the sound of his voice makes her jump and bite the finger in her mouth.

"What do you want?" she hisses in a quick breath as she shakes her hand with the bitten finger for relief.

"Sorry about that," he apologizes, eyeing her fingers she was shaking. "The village in the next valley…that's where we are heading?"

"Yes" she answers while rubbing her sweaty palms on her deer hide pants.

They reach the part in the dirt road where it starts descending down into the valley towards Amphipolis. Xena stops her horse and looks around at the forest on either side of the road and then at the village in the distance.

She clears her throat and announces to the group of officers on their horses around her. "I need all the hunters to report to me."

Mumbling begins around her, but six men appear on foot around her horse.

She gets off her horse and leads him over to a boy standing over behind the group of trackers who has been holding her bow and a bag of arrows exchanging the reins of her horse for the weapons and watches him lead off her horse before she turns to her hunters.

Bart gets off his horse too and walks over to where the General is standing with the trackers, a confused look on his face.

"Uh, Xena we've almost reached town…Wouldn't you want to be at the front of your army when we enter?"

"You can handle it can't you?" she asks him on a dark tone, unmistakably annoyed at his questioning.

He takes a step back.

"Yes ma'am," he answers, with trembling lips. "I just thought…"

She starts to walk past him and grabs his chin, and his face turns ashen.

"Well, don't think, just follow orders."

She let's go of his chin and continues. "Just follow the main road into town; at the end of it there's a tavern, find the owner and give them this." she says, handing him the rolled up scroll in her hand. "They will know what to do."

Then she walks past him to the group of hunters waiting for her. "Don't worry we'll be there later." she finishes, then orders the archers to follow her.

After she disappears into the woods, Bart walks back over to his horse, but is interrupted before he can mount his horse by the new captain.

"I wonder what that was about." Homer asks as he approaches Bart and stands next to him.

"I have no idea." he murmurs, getting up on the horse and looking down at the other captain. "I learned long time ago that trying to figure her out causes nothing but trouble, just follow her orders and you'll be fine."

Bart shouts the order to move out and guides his horse and the army behind him forward on a dirty path and down into the valley.


	28. Chapter 28

As Xena leaves the main body of her army and enters the woods with her archers, she clutches the bow in her hands tighter to her body as they make their way down the familiar path and through the trees she had once often visited with her little brother Lyceus when they were children.

As the track wears on deeper into the forest, the heaviness she has felt in her chest earlier today lifts when she stops by a tree she recognizes, and raises her hand up to it and rubs her fingers across her and Lyceus' s names that are carved into the bark. She slowly turns her head and she feels a flush creep up cheeks and her ears grow red as she realizes her companions are standing there watching her.

She steps back from the tree and clears her throat, slightly embarrassed of her display of emotions in front of her archers.

"There's a clearing through there," she points down the path they are on to a clump of bushes little ways away. "It's always been a good place to hunt rabbits."

She impatiently shoves past the men and down the path she has just indicated, wanting to quickly move on, so she edges through the bushes that outline the area and stands at on the edge of a small field.

She bites her lip as her eyes scan the area and they fall upon the big rocks sitting in the middle of it. She then smiles as she comments under her breath, more to herself than to anyone else. "They sure seemed bigger the last time I was here."

She moves forward into the clearing and to the bottom of the bolder, then she jogs up it and stops at the top, pausing enough to blow out a few short breaths as she reflects on the events that took place there. She closes her eyes as they swiftly wash down on her, and sees the imagines of her and Lyceus upon that big rock while they were playing King of the Mountain, fighting each other with some wooden swords they had made together that summer.

She reopens her eyes as she hears the slow approach of the archers and she looks down on them from the top of the boulder.

"There's an opening on the other side, you can store your gear there while we hunt."

The archers start to move to the other side of the rock to find the entrance of the cave when a sudden noise of twigs breaking and running footsteps come quickly towards them from somewhere in the woods around them.

She hurriedly gives the hand signal for everyone to find a place to hide, then she jumps up and grabs a limb that hangs over her head and raises herself up into the trees.

She relaxes back against the trunk of the tree to wait for whoever it was coming. Her mouth flies open and her breath hitch in her throat, when, from behind the branches that stretch out before her, she sees the ghost of her little brother sitting there watching her.

Time seems to slow around her as Lyceus slips backwards off the branch he was sitting on and disappears from her sight.

She sat there on her limb staring at the now empty spot where she saw her dead brother, blaming herself for what had happened to him just like her own family, afraid to look down to the ground, to find him lying there again. She was naturally startled by the sound of someone entering the clearing, so she forces herself to look down, expecting to find Lyceus lying below her, but instead she finds the caregiver Ares had hired for her.

Her heart beats faster as she feels herself begin to hyperventilate; she reaches up and runs her fingers through her long hair in an attempt to both stay calm after the unearthly event of seeing brother and also to restrain from jumping out of that tree and going after Maggie as she watches her race across the meadow and into the woods on the other side.

Xxx

Bart leads the army down the dirt road into Amphipolis. The villagers gathered on the side cheer and wave as they pass by.

One of the soldiers in the Calvary brings his horse up even with Bart's.

"How could the General want to miss all of this?"

Bart shakes his head as some of the village girls come closer and grab his leg. "I don't know crazy I guess," he answers with a loud laugh.

They reach the end of the road where they see a modest inn… Xena had promised it was there.

As they look around, they notice that even more people seem to be gathered there, some on the wide balcony on the front of the building, a few feet off the ground, and some people on the stairs leading into the tavern. Everyone is waving and cheering.

When Bart stops a couple of feet back from every one, two familiar faces maneuver out from the crowd with an older woman following them.

A smile crosses the younger woman's face as she approaches his horse.

"Hi Bart," she reaches her hand up to take his. "So glad you guys finally made it."

Bart returns her smile but doesn't take her hand instead he slides off his horse and gathers her in his arms and sweeps her off her feet and swings her from side to side. "Gabrielle I didn't expect you to be here."

He looks to his friend that was standing behind Gabrielle and grabs his shoulder in greeting. "Perdicus, glad to have you back."

Gabrielle wraps her arm around the older woman now standing beside her and pulls her forward towards Bart.

"Bart this is Cyrene," she pats her forearm with her another hand. "She's the owner of this inn."

Bart turns towards her and clears his throat. "Nice to meet you ma'am."

He retrieves the scroll that Xena had given him and hands it to her. "Our General wanted me to give this to you."

He turns back to Gabrielle and they share a smile together. "So where do we make camp?"

Cyrene unrolls and glances at the parchment, then tucks the rerolled scroll under her arm and points to a path running beside the inn.

"Take that path, it leads to a big field behind my tavern."

Bart turns around and gives a couple of whistles to the army and leads the way to the field. The troops start moving towards the path behind the group.


	29. Chapter 29

While keeping a close eye in the direction Maggie is heading, she sees her disappearing into the bushes. Xena sits back against the tree with a grim smile when a sudden rush of calmness washes over her body and she curls her arms around uplifted knee as she closes her eyes when her brother's voice fills her head again, just like earlier that day: "Xena, come on let's play!" 

She opens her eyes in time to see Lyceus jump down from the tree they were in and runs to the rock caves, where he stops and motions to her with his hand to follow.

She climbs down from her perch to follow him, passing in front of the archers that are standing around waiting for further instructions from her on what to do about the woman they have just seen...

The men are quiet as she passes them and then one of them speaks up.

"Are we not going after that woman?" he questions as she climbs up on top of the rocks.

When she reaches the top, she looks up into the trees over them and spots her brother climbing up a rope that hanging from one of them.

A smile forms on her face when it became clear that it has been indeed Lyceus taking her, so she looks around the tree, not at all surprised to find the old rope hanging down from it. She jumps up and grabs the rope as high as she can, then, slowly pulling herself up it, she uses her feet to boost her higher.

"Come on boys." she yells to the archer's still standing where she has left them, staring at her with their mouths open. "You do want to catch her, don't you?"

The men scramble up the rocks, standing underneath her, and watch in awe as she climbs the rest of the way up, so they can follow.

Xena reaches up and grabs the rope tied up in the tree, and then swings herself out to land on a wooden platform in front of her.

She hears her brother's laugher and she turns in the direction of the sound, her eyes sparkling with joy when she takes in the old rope bridge she and her brothers had built together one summer a long time ago, hanging high among the trees throughout the forest.

She trembles with excitement as she steps out onto the planks of the bridge and grabs the rope railing to continue to cross it as her ears pick up the sound of the archers coming up behind her on the platform preparing to follow.

As she reaches the middle of the bridge, she pauses to step over some missing planks, sliding her hand easily down the rope railing, but as she steps over the open space, she feels something hanging from it. When she pulls it up to take a better look, she realizes it is an old quiver, one she had used when Toris was teaching her to use a bow. She juggles the pouch in her hand and fills the weight of the rocks that are still there, she leans over the side and glances down at the dirt path that ran under the bridge, then laughs to herself when she remembers all the clueless travelers they had bombarded with those rocks when they passed by.

The smile fades from her lips though as another memory comes up of that same summer, of her mother pleading with her to wear a dress, when all Xena wanted to do was to keep wearing her it brother's old hand me down shirts and pants.

She lets the bag swing from her hand as she anxiously moves along the remaining planks of the bridge, the smell of water assaulting her nose and it does not take long until she recognizes in the distance the big tree she knew would be where the bridge ended.

She slows her pace on the bridge as her brother appears again in front of her; the last of the suns ray is streaming through the leaves of the trees, casting shadows around them.

She takes a short breath and she mouths a thank you to him for reminding her of the good times they had in their childhood and for showing her the rope bridge, they had built together.

She moves forward towards the tree where the bridge ends and feels the remnants of his essences on her skin as she passes over where he stood before he faded away.

She jumps up and balances on the sheet of wood in the tree and crouches down to peer through the trees to the sandy banks of the brook that ran beside the tree.

Up above, she can see most of the beach and spots some boot imprints in the sand running into the stream and then to the woman, that was already half-way across it. She looks back to the bridge to see where the archers were and smiles when she notices that they were close enough to see her climb down out of the tree.

She shuffles over to the edge of the platform and climbs down to sit on the sand and she removes her boots as the archers climb down and join her.

She slings the tied boots over her shoulder as she stands up and motions the soldiers to follow her to the stream.

They careful pick their way into the stream, just as Maggie reaches the other side, and as the sense of excitement builds to catch up to her, they move faster to get to the other side, but when they reach the middle of the stream a rain of arrows spray down around them sticking in the mud of the riverbed.

When Xena looks up from the arrows, she observes a group of women standing on the other bank and then Maggie running through the group to the woods behind them.

One woman steps out from the group and lifts the mask that she wore, reveling her face to the group in the water. "I'm Ephiny and I do believe you are trespassing on Amazon land."


	30. Chapter 30

As the late afternoon sun was cresting the horizon touching the tips of the mountains around them, Gabrielle was relaxing against the short rock wall that made up the back porch of the inn.   
The two captains perched on either side of her as they watched the last of the tents going up; the laughter of the men sitting around the lit campfires- sharing a flask of wine- filled the air, and the flame from the torches that were scattered about, lit up the paths throughout the camp.  
The Bard was playing with the scroll she was holding- that Cyrene had given to her earlier.   
“So this is the reason why Xena decided to have the army set up camp here in Amphipolis.” Gabrielle mumbled. “She knew that her mother would be paid by the King for the use of the land.”   
Perdicus extended his boot out from his perch on the wall and rubbed her arm.   
“Sure looks like it.” he said. “And you being the army’s script, she left you in charge of all the negotiations with the town elders.”   
Just then, Casey and Damia walked by in front of the wall, holding hands, whispering, and laughing with each other.   
“Huh.” Gabrielle huffed and asking with a wide grin on her face. “When did that happen?” referring to the couple who had just walked past.   
“Her name is Damia; she joined us when we were near Pynda, battling that forest fire.” Bart scoffed. “She’s the daughter of that woman Maggie- Xena’s caregiver.”  
“Ah, I see,” Gabrielle concluded “…and you don’t like her, I take it?”  
Bart watched the couple in the distance before he answered.  
“No, well I don’t really know her all that well.” he explained. “I just don’t like that she’s fraternizing with our boys.”   
“I don’t think that getting to know someone…...” she giggled. “….would hurt anyone….”   
She half turned and gazed back her at husband. “I think I’m going to go find Cyrene,” she said “See if she needs any help in the tavern.”   
She then turned and walked across the short way to the back door leading into the tavern and stepped through the door.   
The soldiers who had finished with their chores now filled the tables inside the inn, enjoying a relaxing night of eating and drinking before their General returned the next day.  
Gabrielle soon spotted who she was looking for and started pushing her way through the crowded tables over to the bar where the older woman was standing, talking to Toris who was tending bar.   
“Hi, guys.” she greeted, taking a seat on a stool at the bar.   
Toris finished putting the mugs on the tray for his mother and she turned to Gabrielle.   
“Hi, sweetie.” The woman answered, putting her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back as soon as I deliver this order.”   
Gabrielle nodded her head then turned back to the bar, where Toris was wiping down the counter and picked up another mug to clear.   
“I was coming to see if Cyrene needed any help.” she frivolously threw out there hoping to start a conversation with Toris; he always made her nervous when she was around him and she never knew what to say to him.   
“Hmm that would help out a lot,” he shortly answered, not looking up from his cleaning. “The baby is sick and Agnes stayed at home to take care of her, so we’re shorthanded tonight; could use the help.”   
Gabrielle clasped her hands together and turned around to gaze out over the crowd. “Just point to where I should start.   
When she did not get a response from him, she turned back around and noticed he was still cleaning the same mug as earlier and he was starring off into space not hearing another word she had said.  
She reached her hand out and placed it on his wrist to get his attention, and when he shifted his eyes to look into hers, she noticed that his were bloodshot.  
“Is it true?” he finally asked after a moment of silence between them. “Is this my sister’s army? Is she coming back here?”   
Gabrielle cleared her throat and squeezed his wrist she was still holding.   
“Yes, Xena does lead this army.”   
Toris threw the rag from his hand down and reached for another mug sitting on the counter and turned to fill them with ale, then placed one of them in front of Gabrielle as he took a long drink of the other mug.   
“She will probably arrive as early as tomorrow afternoon,” she continued as she drank from the mug that was in front of her.   
Toris crossed his arms as he leant back against the wall behind him and, hitched up his foot.  
“What about this new guy that Phillip was talking about? Is he part of her army?”  
She finished her ale, sat it in front of her, and spun it in her hands. “Well sort of, he’s definitely interested in the battle. “   
“So you’re not going to tell me anything about him either just like Phillip.”   
He grabbed her empty mug, turned to refill it, and then sat back in front of her and stands there looking at her waiting for her answer.  
“Well I think that is something you need to talk to your sister about.”  
“That’s what I thought.” he replied, “Another vague answer, all I want to know is who this guy is? Does he treat her right? Does she love him because let me tell you Phillip was a perfect match for her and he wouldn’t have kept her away from her family.”  
Gabrielle was ready with her reply when she felt a hand on her shoulder and Cyrene came up to stand next to her.   
“Never mind, I’ve got to go get another barrel of ale, this one is almost empty.” he gave Gabrielle a hard stare before he started to walk off towards the kitchen to the cellar.   
They watched him walk through the swinging doors to the kitchen then Cyrene turned to her.   
“You ready to get to work?” she asked her, still a little curious about what they were talking about but it had to wait until later when she was alone with her son and she could ask him.   
“Sure.” Gabrielle answered then got up and followed Cyrene through the doors of the kitchen, all the while thinking to herself “I wonder what Xena is up too right about now.”   
Xxx  
Ephiny’s head snapped back from the force of the punch, the warm blood splattering across her face coming from her nose.   
A skillful kick relived her hands of the staff she held and it sailed high through the air, then was caught by another pair of hands and successfully spun around their body coming to a stop in front of them in a fighting stance.   
She watched the display of disrespect and then bellowed to the amazons behind her to throw her another staff as she wiped the blood from her nose off on to her arm, she was going to enjoy teaching this woman a lesson or two.


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE  
The last of the late afternoon sun mirrored off the water they were standing in before it glimmered across Xena’s face, as she scrutinized the women walking towards them. Her archers surrounded her.   
Ephiny and some of her warriors waded into the ankle deep water towards the other group, next stopping a few feet away in front of them.   
A gentle breeze blew around them, scattering their hair in their face as the silence continued.   
“All we came for is the old woman.” Xena clarified, being the first to speak.  
Ephiny shook her head and her curly hair bounced around her determined face.   
“That won’t happen; you would have to defeat us to get to one of our sisters.” she proudly announced, directing her words more towards the woman warrior.  
“I don’t think that would be a problem.” Xena answered as she thrust her arm back and punched the Queen in the nose, jumping in the air the following second, kicking the staff the Amazon was holding and spectacularly catching it in midair, just to swing it either side of Ephiny.  
She came back down to her feet in the water as Ephiny yelled for another staff and wiped the blood that was now dripping from her obviously broken nose.  
Xena held the stolen staff in both hands in front of her as they circled each other, their companions from both sides scattered out of their way.   
“Is one old woman really worth getting your ass kicked?” Xena inquired.  
“Yes,” Ephiny replied as she swung her staff for a knee shot but Xena jumped it with remarkable easiness, and next spun around and landed a kick to the side of Ephiny’s head.   
She did not duck in time and therefore forced to take a step back from the smack. Nevertheless, that little blunder did not stop her as she declared.  
“Anyway, I do not plan on being the loser here.” she ended with a shake of her head from the jolt.  
“Oh yeah, well I wouldn’t bet on that too much.” Xena refuted as she caught the Amazon staff in her hand when Ephiny swung it at her head, and lifted her leg up to knee her in the stomach. While she remained, bent over from the blow Xena flipped her over and Ephiny landed on her back in the water, as the warrior picked up her foot to step on her chest.   
A Green burst of light lit up the sky and around the clearing as Artemis made an appearance in the glade, walking across the water straight over to the two women.   
“Xena!” Artemis screeched to get her attention and to stop the fight.  
“My Amazons have no quarrel with the great Warrior Princess.”   
At the mention of Xena’s title, the muttering began among the Amazons.   
Xena lifted her foot off Ephiny, before she offered her hand to her to help her back to her feet, and moved immediately back to stand with their own groups.   
Ephiny stood up water dripping from the soaked clothes she was wearing.  
“But my Goddess she attacked us because we refused to give one of our own sisters.” the Amazon queen complained, sounding like a whiny child tattling on another.  
“Ephiny you are my Chosen, and you are aware of the rule about fighting with other God’s Chosen,” Artemis reprimanded the Amazon.  
“Another God’s Chosen?” she questioned and looked over at Xena standing in the middle of the river and scoffed at her when she gave her a little wave of her hand. “But who? What God could she possible belong too?”  
Artemis strolled over to Ephiny and touched her own symbol on the amazons arm. Then a small smile crossed her lips as she thought of Ares.   
“You can usually identify the other Chosen by their tattoos of the symbol of their Patron God they proudly wear” she said, giving Xena a meaningful look while she cleared her throat, her eyes skimming down Xena’s body before continuing.   
However, she knew her brother well, and she did not want to miss the opportunity to express it -and with any luck, to embarrass Xena in the process too.  
“I would guess that my brother placed your tattoo in a… lets just say a little more intimate place am I right, Warrior Princess?”   
The whispering of disbelief among the Amazons about her status with a God had circled back around to her own ears; however, Xena rolled her eyes at the Goddess’ last comment, not about to actually show them her tattoo just to prove that she was indeed a chosen of the War God.   
“What do you want Artemis?” she questioned, wanting to get to the real reason for the Goddess’ visit, excluding the fact that she had showed up just to save her precious Amazons from her.   
“I hear of you leading your army against the warlord Canis?”   
“You heard correct.” Xena folded her arms across her chest, waiting to find out where this line of questioning was leading too.   
“You may or may not have known that my Amazons have had a run in with this warlord.” Artemis answered.  
“So had a lot of other people in the villages around here.” Xena scratched her nose and waited for the Goddess to continue.   
“I’ll make a deal with you.” Artemis begun, “Let two of my Amazons travel with you to Amphipolis, to witness the warlord’s trial.”   
The Goddess glanced in the direction of her Amazons, not sure what kind of reaction her next statement would cause.  
Xena patiently waited for the Goddess to continue, not really liking where the conversation had been heading so far.   
“And if we are satisfied with his punishment.” she paused long enough to close her eyes before she uttered her next sentence “…then Maggie will be given to you in exchange.”  
Xena raised her eyebrow at the outburst coming from the Amazon tribe when the Goddess’ finished, nevertheless she eyed Artemis, and at that exact moment, she made up her mind. It was not a very difficult choice after all.   
She next informed the Amazons of what she planned to do.  
“We are setting up camp here for the night.” she clarified, “Be here at dawn if you’re going to travel with us.”   
She turned to her archers to order them to start setting up camp, but they had already started collecting firewood, while a couple ran towards the woods to hunt food.  
By the time she turned around to mention something else, the Amazons had already disappeared back into the woods to their own village on the other side of the river after Artemis had taken her exit.   
Xxx

Later that night, with the fire banked, and everyone else fast asleep. Xena was laying in her bedroll, her arm folded behind her head watching the stars in the sky.   
A shooting star streaked across the heavens and her body stiffened as Ares appeared beside her. She turned over on her side with her back facing him.   
Ares stood there by her side for a few moments contemplating on what he would say next, when he half turned towards her; he reached his hand out to her hair and twirled it around his fingers.   
“You may not think so, but I do understand why you helped him.”   
His words were soft as he begun.   
She shifted away from him, just knowing that he had caught up to Phillip and probably killed him and now it would be her turn to face the music for having defied him.   
“You thought you loved him once.”   
He moved his hand to her shoulder and began to caress it. “Of course that was before a real man came along and showed you what real love was about.”  
He felt through his hand her body shake with laughter; he paused to enjoy the responsiveness of his words before he resumed with what he wanted to say.  
“However that may be, I’ve already forgiven you for helping him escape me, and so it should not be hard for you to grant me this one last request.”   
He took a short breath and excessively swallowed before he told her what he wanted her to do.   
“After you have finished taking care of this warlord,” he whispered, sliding his hand down her arm and grabbing her hand.  
“Retire from your army in Macedon and return to the Halls of War to never see the king ever again.”   
She rolled her body over to face him and searched his eyes, astonished by what he had just said.


	32. Chapter 32

Xena stood in the long grass of the field under an oak tree full of apples with her hands on her hips.

"You better hope they don't realize that there are apples growing in the wrong kind of tree," she snorted out with laughter, talking to Ares through their bond.

No sooner had she finished that thought that the tree abruptly changed into an apple tree right in front of her. That stunning magic trick was quickly followed by a playful pinch to her butt. Surprised, she immediately spun around and faced an Amazon staff stuck in her face.

Acting only on impulse, Xena grabbed the other end of the staff and glared at the Amazon standing at the other end of it.

"I had no problem beating your Queen; Now mark my words: an Amazon peasant like yourself would be a breeze," Xena said with her lips pulled back, baring her teeth and enunciating every word in order to make sure to get her point across.

The two women stood there in a silent battle with each other for a few seconds, when Pony pushed between them and turned to her companion.

"I'm sure our Queen would be happy to hear that we were on our best behavior when in the company of our allies and traveling through their lands," she stated as she shoved the other one back away from her.

Pony turned back to Xena and they started walking back to the apple tree.

"So Chosen of War, would you like me to pick some apples for you?"

Xena jerked around and slapped her hand over Pony's mouth.

"Xena is fine, nothing else understand?"

Pony shook her head in understanding and Xena removed her hand.

"Ok, Xena." She started to poke her elbow in Xena's side but the look on the warrior's face made her think better of it. Instead, she asked her again.

"So how about them apples?" Pony jumped up, grabbed a limb of the apple tree, and pulled herself up into the tree then saying. "I swear this was an oak when I followed Solari over here earlier."

Xxx

Xena was seated on the edge of the cliff tossing pebbles down into the valley where Amphipolis could be seen, thinking about her family and their possible reaction to her return, and to the promise she knew she would eventually have to make to Ares, regarding her position of General. Still, the last thing she wanted was for the God to force her to give that up by using Phillip as an excuse.

She dourly, sighed a long breath and turned to the others standing around her.

"Come on, let's get a move on."

Nevertheless, in single file they followed the path down the mountain and into the valley and eventually into the village.

Xxx

The room was stifling, Gabrielle pushed through the crowd of soldiers, a tray full of ale on her hand. She passed by Cyrene who was carrying another similar tray, stopping for a second to say something to the older woman, when the crowd shifted and she found herself shoved into the older woman.

She turned around and stood by her when a fight broke out between a few of the soldiers.

Gabrielle grabbed Cyrene and pulled her over in the corner near the front window while Toris grabbed his wife- who was standing just a few steps away, near the bar, and they ducked behind it, when more fights broke out and suddenly, the whole room erupted into chaos.

The two captains came rushing through the back door and pushed their way through the crowd of the town's spectators, finally reaching the soldiers just in time to see one of them lifted over their heads and thrown through the front glass window.

Xxx

The soldier went through the window and the railing of the porch; his dramatic fall ended on the ground laying in front of a pair of booted feet.

Xena reached down and picked him up by the back of the shirt, then shoved him up the stairs and into the tavern.

A shrill whistle rose up above the noise of the fighting and the soldiers stopped where they stood, recognizing the signal they dropped to their knee.

Gabrielle exhaled a sigh of relief to see her friend, she took a hold of the older woman's hand and they moved over to stand behind the bar with Toris and Agnes.

The Warrior Princess shoved the man who she was still holding by the collar at Bart as she passed him and she made her way into the room.

Her boots crunched the broken glass that laid scattered all over the floor under the wrecked tables and chairs, the damage around the room her soldiers had caused.

"Everyone out in front and assume formation now!" She ordered all the troops.

Xxx

Out in front of the tavern, the soldiers had lined up in six separate lines, with ten men in each.

Everyone in the village had stopped whatever they had been doing and stood out among the shops to watch. Even the Reeve and the city counselors had stopped long enough to come out of the town hall.

Xxx

Xena slowly descended the stairs from the porch of the tavern, and walked among her men. "Down on the ground!" she ordered.

The men laid down flat on their stomachs from where they stood and lifted up on their hands in a push up positions.

They held that pose as she continued her path through them and eventually stood in front of them again.

Gabrielle, Cyrene, Toris and his wife also came out of the tavern to observe what was going on.

Xena walked over to where her captains stood. "Take half of them on a run and the others are to clean and repair what they broke in the tavern; switch them out after a candle mark."

Xena glanced over to the front porch where her family was standing. "You take care of this; I've got something else to do. "

Xxx

Xena awkwardly approached the bottom steps of the tavern's porch. At pretty much the same time, Cyrene came forward to the edge of the top step and her hand covered her mouth.

The old woman cautiously stepped forward off the porch onto the top step where she hesitated before she took the last few steps down to the ground and to her daughter. She had waited for this moment for the last five years and now that it was here, she could not wrap her mind around it.

Xena examined her mother as she came down the steps, the grey running through her dark shoulder length hair, and the lines that mapped the once smooth skin around her eyes.

When her mother stepped closer to her and tilted her head back up to her, the tears streamed out of the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks, she opened her trembling arms wide.

Xena took a step closer to the older woman, reached her arms out and pulled her to her chest, cradling her as they both sobbed together.

Xena's eyes flicked back up to the porch where her brother was still standing, but now had his back towards them refusing to watch the scene unfolding before him.


	33. Chapter 33

The tiny flame of the lantern sitting on the small nightstand by the large bed that Damia now sat on lit up her face and revealed the tightness under her eyes and her pouty bottom lip. She slowly ran her hand up the blanket appreciating the softness of the animal fur, silently speculating that, it had come from Olympus and most likely given to Xena by Ares.

When her hand reached the top of the layer, she stood up from the bed, and, with a twitchy hand, she folded one corner back, and straighten out the rest of the blanket removing the path that she made with her hand through the hair.

Going to the end of the bed where a trunk sat on the floor, she retrieved the basket of fruit that she had sat there earlier so she could make the bed. She crossed the room and placed it on the general's worktable.

She then turned to face the room to observe the quality of her work and she placed her fists on her hips and smiled , extremely pleased with what she had done and nodded her head in satisfaction.

xxx

Pacing down the path from the tavern heading to her tent, Xena's mind kept playing back to the awkward dinner she had endured with her family, her brother's never ending spiteful comments still echoing painfully in her head. The only highlights of the evening had been her mother, of course, along with Gabrielle and her niece who apparently had taken a shine to her aunt to Toris' dismay. She abruptly stopped in her footsteps and her eyes narrowed as she looked in the direction of her tent which was placed a few feet away when she noticed the shadows dancing around on the sides of her shelter from the light inside.

She silently moved off into the bushes that surrounded the path before detecting that someone else hid down the path in the same brush.

xxx

Damia was still wandering around the room, virtually fingering every item that Xena owned, stopping at her wardrobe closet and rifling through what she assumed were one of a kind made just for her, the Chosen of the War God himself. When she banged the door closed, the breeze from it rustling the maps that laid on the General's work desk and catching Damia's eye. She immediately strolled over to inspect them.

At that very moment, Xena appeared at her tent in time to witness Damia standing by her worktable about to look at her maps. Pressing her body up against the canvas, she silently crept towards her, slipping her arm around her neck, and squeezing it tight.

"Why are you sneaking around in my tent?" Xena growled in Damia's ear.

Ceja was Peeping at them from behind the furs that hung from the doorway of the tent. She witnessed the two women struggling with each other, and, curious to see what would happen next, she lowered her small body to the floor and crawled across it, expertly ducking behind a nearby chair.

"I'm…I wasn't!" the intruder tried to explain, but the arm pressed in her throat tighter was making it hard for her to speak. "When I saw that my mother…"

At the mention of Maggie's name, Xena removed her arm from around her neck and spun her about to face her, subsequently grabbing her by the throat with her hand and slamming her up against the wooden beam support pole in the middle of room.

"What about her?" she seethed as she squeezed her fingers tighter around her windpipe. "Last time I saw her she was running from me into the safety of the Amazon lands."

Damia's breath caught in her throat as she gasped for air from the added pressure of Xena's fingers as they tighten even more around her throat. She had wondered what had happened to her mother and how the Amazons ended up with Xena here in the village…Well, now she knew.

Xena more than a head taller than the girl, lifted her up by the throat so they were eye level with each other. Now she could really glare at her.

"Either from you or from your mother -when the Amazons deliver her to me- I'm going to find out what you two are after! " she spat in Damia's face before she slammed her hard against the pole again, knocking over the basket of fruit off the table, that Damia had sat there.

"Now…how about you make things easier for both of us tell me why did Maggie take off to the Amazon village?"

An unexpected presence at the tent entrance interrupted their discussion as Bart entered and cleared his throat, not too surprised by what he saw given that he had watched Damia enter the tent earlier. In the meantime, he had stood quietly to the side of the door for the general to finish with her business.

"We will continue with this discussion later!" she hissed as she swung Damia around her and brutally shoved her away... "Don't ever let me catch you in here again!"

The young woman massaged her throat as she squatted down to clean up the fruit from the floor.

"Leave it and just get out!" Xena ordered, waiting for Damia to place the basket back on the table with some of the apples and left the tent before she turned her attention to the captain.

"What do you want?" Xena growled as she ambled across the room and sat down in a chair – the same one behind which Ceja was still hiding to remove her boots.

"I just wanted to let you know that the Amazons are all set up in the supply tents and will be ready to ride with us at first light."

"That's great," she answered as she finished with her boots and placed them under the chair. "You know when I decided to let them take part at our meeting tonight I didn't expect them to volunteer their services to ride with my army."

"They should be an added benefit for our army I would say Amazon warriors are legendary with their bows and arrows," he added

Xena got up from the chair and started taking off her armor she placed them on a nearby trunk without noticing Ceja who was laying down flat on her stomach on the floor and had pressed her body up against the trunk to stay out of sight.

When Xena finished undressing she turned her back to the trunk, sauntered over to her worktop on the other side of the tent, and took a seat, grabbing the map laid across and over which she had went with everyone during that night's earlier meeting. .

She once again scanned the area where her scouts had spotted the warlord's camp and had explained that it was in the mountains near the river her and the archers had camped the night before.

"The troops are also settled down for the night?" she questioned after she put the map back on the table, standing and unlacing her battle dress.

Bart laughed at the sight the troops were in when he last saw them,

"Yeah they were dead tired after that long hike and fixing the stuff they broke at the inn."

Xena slipped out of her fatigues down to the camisole she was wearing underneath and then hung it on the back of the chair. "Good I hope it taught them a well-deserved lesson."

With that said she then stretched over to the other table and picked up the basket of fruit that Damia had left and shoved it in Bart's hands. "We leave at first light, you should get some rest too and take that basket and burn it."

Getting the hint that she wanted him to leave, he took the basket then saluted her with his fist and turned to leave.

xxx

When she was alone, once again she turned to rest her elbows on the worktable and laced her fingers together before she called out,

"Ok you can come out now, I know you're there.

When Ceja heard Xena's voice speak to an otherwise empty room, she shut her eyes tight and brought her small hands up in front of her to cover her mouth afraid of making any more noise in hopes that she had not totally given away her whereabouts.

The flash of light that came next forced its way behind her eyelids forcing her to open her eyes again. When she did it, this time, there was a man standing in front of her aunt.

Xena lifted her arms up around Ares neck and pulled him in for a kiss at the same time he lifted her up and placed her on the desk she was leaning against and slid between her legs.

As his fingers fumbled around trying to untie her shift, his other hand gathered her hair to the side and he assaulted her neck in kisses.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, I wasn't actually talking to you." Xena finally got out in between the god's kisses to her lips and then to her neck where it abruptly ended.

Ares tilted his head up from kissing her neck.

"What was that?" he asked as he spit her hair from his mouth and pulled back from her to look her in the eyes. "Then, who exactly were you talking about if it wasn't me? I sure don't see anyone else here."

Xena laughed at Ares' sudden mood change and reached out to pinch his cheek as she pushed him back and hopped off the table.

Grabbing him by the hand, she led him over the bed, and they sat in the middle of it facing each other, legs crossed.

"Come on out now." she encouraged and then watched as Ceja stood up from behind the trunk and walked out to the middle of the room.

Xena wiggled her finger at her to come over to the bed and when she got close enough she picked her up and stood her between them.

"Did you follow me home after we finished eating dinner together tonight?"

Ceja stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded her head yes.

"I thought so; your daddy must be worried sick not knowing where you are."

Ares reached out, tugged on the little girl's dress, and said. "You can't take her back until I'm introduced to this beautiful young lady."

Ceja turned around and sat in Xena's lap while eyeing the God.

"Well Ares, this is my niece Ceja." Xena said.

"Well hi Ceja, my name is Ares." he reached out and shook the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Ceja looked at Ares for a few moments then took her thumb out of her mouth and asked. "Are you my aunt Xena's boyfriend?"

They both laughed together at the little girl's observation of seeing them kissing earlier and Ares answered. "Yes well sort of….In more ways than one. "

Another knock on the tent post outside startled them and, forgetting that the little girl was still seated there, Ares suddenly disappeared making her gasp in surprise and wrap her arms tight around her aunt.

Xena reached up, ran her fingers through her hair, and bent forward to kiss her on the top of the head trying to come up with something to say to her to calm her down after Ares mistakenly vanished in front of her.

Then she came up with an idea that she thought it might work for awhile.

Holding the girl in her arms, she moved to the end of the bed were another trunk sat on the floor and lifted the lid and pulled out an old doll.

She sat Ceja in her lap again and placed the doll in her lap.

"Your daddy made this for me when I was a little girl just like you."

She smoothed the doll's wild hair down as she smiled at the memory. "Now I'm giving it to you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about the man you saw here tonight ok?"

Ceja nodded her head yes as a voice spoke up outside after knocking again.

"Ok we will keep it between you and me.," she added, kissing the child on the head again as she yelled. "Come on in Toris she's in here with me."

Toris came through the door cover to see them seated on the bed together. "There you are young lady I've been looking all over for you."

He walked over to the bed and lifted Ceja up into his arms.

He touched the doll she cradled in her arms and glanced up at Xena. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he said.

"I'm glad you're back for our mother's sake, it doesn't mean I have to like it and I hope you plan on leaving soon."

Caught by surprise by the frankness of his statement, she countered.

"Toris I really don't know why you hate me so much, if you would just talk to me maybe we can work it out."

"No. I am not going to forgive you as easily as mother seemed to have done. He was my best friend and you tore out his heart and then you just up and left without telling anyone where you were going."

He shook his head in disappointment. "You can't just come back after all this time and expect everyone to act like nothing happened and that you skipped out on us too." With that said, he turned and left out the door with Ceja in his arms.

Xena sat in the middle of the bed, pulled her knees up, and placed her elbows on them as her hands went to her face she began to cry.

Ares popped back in and sat behind her. Soon, he cradled her in his arms and he was rocking her gently, trying to make hear heartache go away faster.

Xxx

In the middle of the night, Bart, a scout and two other soldiers came out of the barn leading their horses. They quietly mounted them and then rode them out of town heading in the direction of the river and the mountain where the warlord's camp that the scout with them had spotted earlier that day.


	34. Chapter 34

In the rocky cliffs of the mountain at predawn and about, a mile from the warlord’s camp Bart and the men that rode with him- excluding the Amazon, that they left at the riverbank near Amazon land- sat in the small alcove under the rock overhang.   
Bart restlessly sat by the campfire in his long underwear, failing miserable at trying to distract himself with the bowl of rabbit stew. He had lost his appetite long before he got to hold it in his hands. Behind him, his clothes stretched out over a group of rocks to dry out after the ride up the mountain in the heavy rain.   
The others were also sitting around him by the fire, some restringing their bows, preparing for the upcoming battle, others eating the stew.   
He pushed the chunks of meat around in his bowl with his fork before eventually giving up eating it all together, sitting the dish on the ground next to him. He got up from the ground and shook his hands to relive the tingling in them as he paced over to the rocks to retrieve his clothes to redress before he made his way over to the edge of the niche.  
The clouds had finally disappeared revealing the stars in the dark sky. He picked up the water skin lying on the ground at his feet to quench is dry throat.   
The vapors from the deep breath he took trying to calm his pounding heart lingered in the cool night air as he watched the pinks and reds of the morning sun peek out over the tops of the mountains; he turned back to the group inside.   
“Let’s pack it up boys. It’s time to ride,” he declared.   
Afterwards, he strutted out from under the big cover rock to his horse to prepare him to leave.   
The rest of the group followed him after having packed the things from their small camp and joined him at their horses.   
Bart retied his quiver of arrows to the horn of his saddle, fingering the rough rope for a split second trying to relax his nervous stomach, fixing his bow over one shoulder; he clutched the smooth wood with one hand as he mounted his horse and waited for his men to follow his lead.   
Seeing the group was ready, he kicked his horse into a trot and rode across the mountain path towards the warlord’s camp about a mile away.   
Xxx  
They hid behind some brush at the edge of the forest and waited a couple of yards away from where the scout had spotted the first lookout post for the warlord’s camp.   
The scout walked in the trees above them until he got to the one that the enemy soldier stood under. He silently dropped to the ground behind him; wrapping his arm around his neck and covering his mouth to silence him before he sliced his throat with the dagger in his other hand and let him fall dead to the ground.  
Bart led his horse with the group over to where the scout was standing when he waved to him.   
“All clear here sir, there are two more look out points but the warlord didn’t think putting men in them was necessary.”   
Bart patted him on the shoulder. “Good job! But it’s getting close to sun rise let’s get this started.”  
Bart reached down and pulled out an arrow from his quiver and the rag that he had stuffed up under the front of his saddle earlier, and wrapped it around the arrowhead and tied it off with the cut up rope when he heard the striker behind him.   
He held his arrow out when the scout with the fire came down the line of men lighting the ends of the arrows.   
When everyone was ready, he mounted his horses and trotted towards the warlord’s camp with his group following him.   
Closing in on the camp, Bart pulled the bowstring back ready to fire his first shot off at the nearest tent. He released the string of the bow and let the arrow fly; it sailed through the air and his hit the target sending it in immediate flames and the men behind him followed his lead and let theirs go to and having the same effect.   
Shouts rang out inside the camp and men began to run chaotically from their burning tents to put out the fires.   
Bart notched another arrow and took his group in a circle around the camp again and they aimed at everyone they could see.  
Canis stood by his burning tent yelling orders when Bart spotted him. The captain turned his horse around in a circle to face the camp and sought him out. Canis bit off his last order, and stood frozen in his spot as he observed Bart slowly raising his bow and pulling back the string lining up his shot aiming the arrowhead dead center at the warlord’s heart. Bart straightened his posture and shifted his fingers along the taunt string of the bow, conflicted weather to release the deadly shot. Finally coming to the realization that this was not part of the orders, he released the arrow and lowered the weapon to his lap, next turning to the others and with a whistle, they retreated to the line of trees.   
Canis heaved a heavy breath from having just escaped near death and, considering the soldier a coward, he bellowed out his last order.   
“Forget about the fires! Mount your horses! There is the group responsible! After them!”   
He ran to his own horse and jumped on him and, pulling out his own sword from its sheath, he let out his battle cry, one that cut the cool air like a knife as he kicked his horse and charged out of the camp.  
Bart drew forward in his saddle and kicked his horse to a faster pace; the wind blew past his ears filled with the battle cry of the warlord. With the now thundering hooves of the enemy closing in behind them, his horse burst through the brush from the woods they had left earlier, scattering wet leaves behind him as he continued across the mountain. 

Reaching the path back down the mountain, Bart leaned back in the saddle as his horse half ran half slid in the mud and rocks, holding firmly to the saddle horn and squeezing his knees in the horse’s side. He almost could not believe it when they made it to the bottom of the mountain and broke off into another run.   
Slowing slightly from the wet sand and with the enemy soldiers closing in behind them once more, Bart pushed his horse faster once they reached the beach of the river separating them from Amazon land.   
The group galloped down the beach until they reached a familiar landmark, taking a sudden turn into the forest of trees.   
Entering the forest, Bart first looked over his shoulder at the enemy that was riding close behind them, as he lead his group through the trees next sounding off a long loud whistle   
The group accompanying Bart all ducked forward into their saddles when they heard the signal to do so, as a rain of arrows appeared whizzing over and by them, mercilessly taking out some of the people chasing them.   
They passed underneath the bridge with just Canis and a couple of his comrades left behind them, and, as they came out on the other side they listened as the voices of the Amazon warriors above them rose up in a cheer from the success of their previous attack.   
Approaching the edge of where the woods ended, Bart ducked under the last limb and bolted his horse through the tall grass of the field.  
As the sun finally came fully over the mountaintops, he heard a familiar battle cry and all around them, the stampede of the big army surrounded them, rushing past to confront the enemy trailing them.


	35. Chapter 35

On the dusty field surrounded by the mountains, Xena fidgeted in the horse’s saddle as the cool wind blew through her hair. An exhilarating feeling of anticipation rose up in the air as up ahead in the distance she spotted the lead horse that Bart rode emerging from the forest.   
Wetting her lips as she released her battle cry and, wasting no time, she charged forward with her Calvary around her.   
They raced across the dirt field for a couple of minutes, the pack of horses and riders moving as one. Xena squeezed her knees tighter, urging her horse to go faster.  
As the oncoming riders finally approached, the cadence of hissing of their swords pulled from their sheath, resonated among the equestrians.   
She impatiently scanned the area for their leader, not coming across him; she carefully pulled back on the reins to slow down her horse, letting the other riders pass to continue with the battle and as sound of swords clashing around her filled the valley, vibrating off the nearby mountains, as both group of soldiers met head on.  
In the meantime, her bright blue moons kept scanning the area until seconds later, she finally noticed through the brawl, the warlord sitting arrogantly in his saddle of his horse on the edge of the forest they had emerged from earlier. Xena bypassed the ensuing battle and trotted her horse over to the warlord.  
Moreover, she slowly approached Canis; she placed her sword across her lap. “Looking like a blood bath out there,” she declared as she circled her horse around his.   
Canis stood silent for a while, contenting himself with analyzing the skirmish playing out in front on him. His arm casually draped over his knee, his hand clutching a dagger tucked up under his leg, not once did he look away from the field, even when she travelled around him.   
Making a full circle around him, she finally stopped her horse in front of his again and inquired.  
“You don’t look eager to join the fight; does that mean you’re going to come along peacefully?”   
Canis gripped the handle of the dagger under his leg, watching her from the corner of his eye, barely holding back the impulse to laugh at her comment. In return, he slowly drew the blade from its hiding place and when she came into his frontal view, he flicked his wrist and hurled it at her.  
Catching the glistening of the sun on the blade as he drew it from under his leg, Xena swiftly brought her sword up from her lap, deflecting the dagger aimed at her face, knocking it to the ground.   
Xxx  
Gabrielle sat comfortably in the big chair by the fireplace, enjoying her cup of tea. Across the tavern, Ceja and a handful of her friends from the village were running around the table of the adults, playing tag.   
“A little birdie told me there were some kids here who wanted to hear a story!” she called out in a singsong voice.   
She had a plan to help Xena divulge the news to her family about her relationship and soon to be child with the notorious God of War.   
The children raced each other over to her chair, jumping up and down excitedly, to their parent’s relief.   
“Ok, everyone, have a seat on the rug.”   
Her bubbly voice rose over the chatter of the children, who were eager for her to start the story. They sat down quickly in a circle at her feet.   
“I sing the song of a man named Jason, who went on a quest for the Golden Fleeced Ram.” she began her tale  
This also caught the attention of the adults sitting at the table, as they turned their attention to the storyteller.   
Xxx  
A wild yell came from the branches of the trees hanging above them, startling the horses. Xena held the reins tightly, guiding Padon a few steps back, as a net fell from the trees above and landed over the warlord. Two amazons followed it, jumping onto Canis and knocking him to the ground, kicking and punching him as hard as they could...  
Xena sounded a whistle from her lips, stopping the assault.   
“Tie him up! I think it’s time he got a taste of his own medicine.”  
The Amazons readily tied his hands and feet together, fastened the net snuggly around him and threw the end of the rope that secured the warlord up to Xena, who expertly tied it to her saddle horn. She then gave a short whistle to alert her troops whose fighting had been successful and who were still in the middle of pilfering the pockets of the dead, instructing them to wind it up.   
One of the soldiers brought a couple of the horses from the warlord’s army over for the Amazons to ride back into the village.   
When everyone mounted their horses, Xena kicked Padon on and headed back into town.   
Xxx  
“Jason achieved his quest by battling the monster- with some help from the Gods, of course- obtaining the Golden Ram and fulfilling his quest.”   
Gabrielle paused to take a sip from her cup of tea an action that gave her a chance to glance around the room, acknowledging the newcomers that had entered the tavern to hear her story with a nod. Hear heart skipped a beat when she noticed that some of the town elders were also present. She smiled knowingly and continued.  
“Deciding to sacrifice his newly acquired possession to the Gods, he rode on the back of the Golden fleeced winged ram.”   
She leaned forward closer to the children, fluidly using her hands while adding the following details. “They flew up to Mount Olympus, were he searched for the fortress of Ares, God of War.”  
Needless to say, her quick, excited movements fascinated the children.   
“When he found the great fortress of the God of War, surrounded by an enormous oak tree plantation, he entered the forest and there he sacrificed the Golden Fleece Ram to him”  
Here, her voice softened a bit, hoping to emphasize the importance of what happened next.   
“You might not have heard about the following part …The story goes that after the sacrifice, Aphrodite transformed the remains of the Golden ram into a delicate golden flower with heart shaped petals, designating the bloom the Golden Fleece.”  
Without hesitation, not wanting to lose the enthusiasm of the story she continued, aware that she had successfully managed to capture the attention of everyone in the room.   
“The flower was unique to Mount Olympus, and for that, the God of War decided to turn it into a symbol, something that his Chosen was going to wear.”  
With the completion of her story, Gabrielle finally allowed herself back in her chair to observe the room, a feeling of satisfaction that she had done her part, when a rumble of horse’s hooves in the distance, interrupted her musings.   
Everyone in the tavern made their way to the big picture window, witnessing the army galloping down the main street of the town, Xena at the lead; behind her, she was dragging someone, wrapped in a net.


	36. Chapter 36

The miniature vibrant banners that outlined the vendors stall set up on the streets of Amphipolis, snapped in the warm breeze above Damia’s head as her fingers rifled through the chain necklaces scattered in a wooden box on the counter.   
She selected one chain and held it up into the light, muttering to herself as if he would like it or not.   
The crowd of people shopping around her snatched her out of her musings as they pushed into her and took her with them, as they gathered in a group; Damia found it the perfect opportunity to sneak the chain into the front pocket of her leather pants as she went with the crowd.  
The mass of people began cheering as the pounding of hoof beats from the army’s horses came closer. She suddenly found herself surrounded by a group of men pushing her back behind them, as they vied for a better position where they could get a better look at the General riding her horse in the front of her army. A low growl left her throat as she gave up the fight, and made her way to the back of the crowd.   
Coming up between two stalls behind the people, she stood on her tiptoes to peer over the heads of the crowd to find the stables she knew Casey would be waiting to take care of the horses as they arrived.   
The army passed by where she stood in the crowd, and she peeped through two women standing behind, overtly starring in the direction of the General, studying her every move.   
Xena came to a halt in front of the tavern. The crowd, her family from the tavern and the troops that had dismounted from their horses surrounded her.  
She tossed the end of the rope tied around Canis to the soldiers.   
“Tie him up in the supply tent, until we’re ready for him.” She coldly directed.  
Ceja wiggled out of her father’s arms who was standing close by and ran to Xena as she dismounted her horse, wrapping her arms around her legs and looking up at her aunt.   
“I’m glad you came back!”   
She grinned at the child as she swung her up to her hip. “Me too little one, I couldn’t wait to get back here to see this cute face of yours!” She teased as she tickled her belly, eliciting a giggle from her, while they headed for the tavern with her family.   
The yearning exposed on Damia’s face from seeing the display of affection between the two and her missing her own mother faded as she waited for them to disappear into the tavern, and crossed the street to where the local stables stood and where the army kept their horses while staying in town.   
Just as she had suspected, Casey was busy in the stockyard that ran along beside the stables, cleaning out the hooves of one of the horses that one of the soldiers had ridden on earlier.  
When she reached the fence and climbed over, she hesitantly approached them.   
“Casey hi!” she greeted him as she picked up a nearby horse brush from a bucket. In addition, she moved to the opposite side of the horse from Casey. He had not spoken one word to her, and he certainly had not glanced in her direction.  
“Still not talking to me?” she probed as she began brushing the steed.   
He casually dropped the horse’s foot he had been working on, dusted off his hands, and took in a deep breath to calm himself before he gave her an answer.  
He stood up and leaned into the horse.   
“Damia you were caught snooping around the General’s tent!” he barked, looking around to see who was watching. He lowered his voice and continued.   
“My job as an outrider was taken away from me, now all I can do is take care of the horses and shovel their crap!”   
Damia’s chin dropped to her chest, her eyes still peering up at him, as she readied herself to give a heartfelt apology.   
“I’m so sorry Casey; I never meant to...”   
He cut her off though before she finished her apology, and grabbed her hand to stop her from continuing with her brushing.   
“But you did, and now I’m the one paying for it.”  
He yanked the brush from her hand and threw it in a nearby bucket, grabbed her by the arm and jerked her around the back of the horse to where she had been standing, in front of him.   
He squeezed her shoulders and added in a shaky voice. “This army is the only family I have, and I’m not about to let anything.” his throat thick with emotion. “Or anyone take that away from me, not even you!”   
He gave her a giant shove backwards, in the direction of her horse tied up along the fence, already geared up to ride.   
“There’s no reason left for you to stay here any longer, with your mother gone, just take the horse and leave town.”  
He turned away from her, and made his way back to the stable without looking back.   
Damia stumbled back a step and watched him walk way; she dug in the pocket of her leather pants, pulling from it the gold chain from the market place and, squeezing it tightly in her fingers, she threw it spitefully at him. She then spun around to make her way to her horse, first patting him on the nose before mounting him and riding out of the fencing of the stables.   
Her horse broke out into a full run as they sped out of the open gates of the fencing and down the now empty streets, the crowd of people that had once inhabited it now either had continued with their shopping or had followed the army into the tavern.   
Her fingers trembled as she griped the reins of the horse tighter, and the pounding of the horse’s hoofs was in rhythm with the drumming of her broken heart beating loudly in her ears.   
She hunched over closer to the horse and pressed her hand against her tight chest, as the wind drown out the loud sobs that escaped it, catching the tears streaming down her cheeks and blowing them back into her hair.  
Finally reaching the outskirts of town, she pulled on his reins to slow down, and turned him around to take one last look at the town. Her face now streaked from the tears, her heart felt broken into a million pieces she swore that would be the last time this would ever happen to her again as she rode off again away from Amphipolis.


	37. Chapter 37

Xena walked through the front door of the old inn with a wide grin on her face from the successful day, tightening her arms around Ceja who was sitting on her hip, giving her a quick hug, with her family following closely behind her.   
Perdicus shut the door on the crowd that had trailed them from the street, and came in to join the family inside.   
Xena took a seat at the family table in the back, by the kitchen, carefully placing her niece on her lap; she grabbed an apple from a bowl in front of her and the dagger from her armband, and began peeling it as Ceja watched.   
The two men joined her, sitting on the opposite side of the table, while the other three women went to the kitchen to fetch some drinks.   
“So what’s going to happen next?” Toris inquired as he watched her skillfully using her dagger to slice that apple.   
She finished with cutting the apple and handed Ceja a slice as she popped one in her mouth before answering him.   
“We’ll talk when the others come back.” she simply replied around the apple piece in her mouth. She had something to ask her mother first before she went any further with her plans.   
She sat back comfortably in her chair waiting for the women to return from the kitchen, silently sharing her fruit with Ceja.  
The three women finally emerged from the kitchen carrying a pitcher of mead and enough mugs for them all, sitting them in the middle of the table.   
Gabrielle came from behind the others and placed a cup of tea in front of Xena- having explained to Cyrene in the kitchen that Xena regularly drank tea instead of ale in the afternoon- she took a seat by her husband.   
The women took their seats and began filling their mugs with ale, and then they settled back in their chairs waiting for Xena to tell them what would be the next step for the newly captured warlord.   
“I have orders from the King.” she began after everyone had finished with pouring his or her drinks, tossing her brother a warning glare, that it was not an open invitation to start nagging her about Phillip. She was obviously not in the mood for that.   
Toris’ eyes danced as he peered over the rim of his mug at his sister as he took a drink, amused at how much he was able to irritate her with Phillip.   
She bluntly ignored her brother’s returning look and she continued with what she had planned to tell the group.  
“I need to find out who Canis is working for.,” she explained, turning to her mother who was sitting beside her.   
“I need to use this tavern for the interrogation, but you and the rest of the town elders can sit in on it too.”   
Cyrene grimaced in confusion, but swiftly nodding her ok. “Anything you need to do, dear.”   
“Thanks.” she said, affectingly placing her hand on top of her mother’s; Ceja who was still comfortably seated on her lap, sat forward, wanting to join in, so she reached out and put her little hand over the other two.   
They both laughed at the little girl’s antics.   
“Ok then. Perdicus get some soldiers in here and ready the room for tonight!”   
Xena stood up from her chair with Ceja and placed her up on the table in front of her.   
“In the meantime I promised someone a walk to the river. If that’s ok with you, momma.”   
Agnes smiled as she bobbed her head in agreement and Ceja clapped her hands together in excitement.   
“Ok you, calm down.”   
She swung the child off the table and into her arms again.  
“Thanks, we will be back soon.”   
She turned to leave with the child in her arms and headed out the backdoor.   
She strolled across the back porch of the inn and down the back steps, crossing through the army camp to the path on the other side, which led into the woods and eventually ended up at the river below the town.   
They arrived at the path and Xena deposited Ceja on the ground and took her hand as they entered into the trees.   
A short distance down the path in the trees, Ares appeared beside Ceja and took her other hand. Ceja smiled up at him when he did that and he returned it with one of his own.   
“I hear that congratulations are in order?” he inquired in a soft wondering tone of voice.   
Ceja released their hands as a rabbit scampered across in front of them; she chased after it to the bushes on the edge of the path, stopping there to search through the underbrush to see where it was hiding.   
“Yes you heard right.”   
Xena took Ares’ hand and they slow began walking again down the path.   
Ares squeezed her hand in his as he angled his head downward to hide the slow smile building on his lips of what was he expected to be coming next out of her mouth.   
“I’m ready to give you my answer to your question. It’s a yes, I agree with you about retiring from my army.”

“Oh really?” Ares gave her arm a tug ceasing her footsteps, and pulling her into his arms. He captured her gaze with his while grasping her chin, and lifting it up towards him, he dipped his head down, pressing his lips into hers. His tongue slipped through to hers, tracing the roof of her mouth with the tip, as he proceeded to search for her tongue.  
A soft pant escaped her mouth causing her lips to tremble against his, as the idea of him taking her now occupied her obsessive mind.   
“Besides, I’m also giving up the army for our baby.” she whispered amongst the caress of his lips.   
“Baby?” Ceja exclaimed, interrupting the couple’s further exploration of each other, and reminding them that she was around, something that had slipped their minds for just an instant.   
“You’re having a baby?” Ceja questioned under the hand that now covered her mouth, her wide shining eyes looking up at them waiting for an answer.   
Breaking apart from their embrace and shuffling back from each other, Xena grabbed Ares hand again for support; she did a double take before answering, her voice rising in pitch.   
“Well Ceja...” she stammered over her words, but before she could finish Ceja had already ran ahead of them as the river came into sight.   
Ares switched from her hand to put an arm around her waist. “Don’t worry, she will probably forget all about it by the time you return home.”   
They followed the little girl to the river. “I hope so, I have enough marks against me with my family, and an unwed mother would push me over the edge, not to mention my brother.”   
They came to a clump of trees close to the river and Ares made a blanket with a picnic basket sitting on top on it appear in the shade.   
Xena called to Ceja, who had already taken her boots off and was wading in the water.   
“Ceja, come see what uncle Ares has for us?”   
He shot her a quick look at calling him uncle and Xena just gave him a big smile in return.  
“You might find something in the basket that will help you convince her to keep quiet about the baby.” Ares pointed out before Ceja arrived over to where they sat on the blanket in the shade.

Xxx  
Late in the afternoon, Xena stumbled back into the inn with Ceja in her arms. The child seemed to be expressing her thoughts without hesitation, moving about in Xena’s arms trying to act some of the story out.   
They had spent the afternoon filling Ceja up with cupcakes; she wanted one for every birthday they had missed to buy her silence.   
After she had finished her fourth and final one, she agreed to keep quiet about the new baby, and understood it was going to be a surprise for her grandma.   
The inn filled now with soldiers finishing their work for the nights debriefing of the warlord.  
Her family were also part of the town elders and were going to be present that night. Therefore, Agnes came over and took Ceja from Xena, and turned towards her husband.   
“I’ll see if my mother will watch Ceja for the night.”   
“I think I’ll come with you.” he answered, getting up from the table the three of them left out the front door.   
After Toris left with his family Xena made her way over to where Cyrene was sitting in the chair by the fireplace, watching and waiting for the soldiers to finish their work and trying to stay out of the way.   
She rubbed the back of her stiffen neck as she squatted down on the floor by the older woman’s feet.   
“Mother there is something’s I need to talk to you about.” She said, reaching out and grasping Cyrene’s hands that sat in her lap.   
“It’s about what’s been going on in my life; some things that I hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet.” She clumsily confessed as she bit her lower lip, unsure of how her mother was going to take her relationship with the God of War and the fact that she was expecting his baby.


	38. Chapter 38

Daughter what is it? What has you so upset?” Cyrene inquired as Xena crouched down in front of her chair, she stretched out her hand to sweep a strand of hair off her daughter’s face and tuck it back behind her ear. “Please tell me.,” she pleaded as she clutched her daughter’s hand, drawing it from her mouth where she was biting her nails and placed it with hers in her lap.   
Xena restlessly swapped one leg to the other as her eyes trailed their joined hands, down to her mother’s knees, their position making her realize for the first time in those past few years just how strong was the love that they shared for one another. Her mother would understand she convinced herself as she hastily babbled out.   
“It’s about the occurrences that have been happening in my life, since the last time I saw you.” she stumbled over the words that fell out of her mouth.   
She closed her eyes and took a short breath to calm the nausea settling in her stomach, biting her lower lip on the verge to say more, when an unexpected sound from behind her made her jump suddenly to her feet, tripping over her mother’s boots. She managed to catch herself on the arm of the chair her mother sat in. Stilling herself, she realized it was some of her troops; a little embarrassed by her antics she leaned in close to her mother and whispered.   
“We’ll have to continue this later ok?”   
She squeezed her hand with the one she still held and gave her a wink, before turning from her and towards the others behind her.   
“If everyone will take their places my soldiers will transport the prisoner to his chair.”  
Afterwards, she shadowed her mother over to the table where she would be sitting and sat on the edge of the table in front of them casting a glance behind her at the others that sat with her mother.   
The soldiers noisily crossed the room, clattering the chains they were carrying in their hands across the floor behind them. Following closely behind them was none other than the infamous prisoner, with the chains around his ankles, hooked to the ones around his wrists. They came to a halt close to a chair that sat in middle of the room in front of the tables.   
Canis sat back into the chair and gave off a heavy sigh of relief from the heavy chains, afterwards noticing Xena; a wide smile adorned his face, his intentions made clear by the blunt stare at her when the soldiers fastened the chains from his wrist and legs to the rings on the chair.   
Particularly insulted by the warlords’ overtly examination of her, she commenced her interrogation.   
“Ok Canis.”   
She only gave him two options.   
“Are we going to do this the easy way…. before we try it my way? It’s your choice.”   
Hearing just how limited his options were, the warlord burst out into an unprompted roar of laughter.   
“Why don’t we overlook all this nastiness and you run away with me?” he said, his tongue sliding across his bottom lip, as he wiggled his brows suggestively.   
That very moment, Ares materialized in the corner of the cramped tavern in Amphipolis just in time to catch Xena backhanding the warlord that sat bound to a chair in front of her, across the face.   
“Whoa I bet that smarted.” Ares cackled through his bond with Xena.  
The soldiers standing along the wall all shouted their approval, while her mother turned her head away and cried into her hanky, and Toris held his wife.   
Canis raised his chin, a smirk bunching up the red handprint on his face from her backhanding him.   
“You know, when the War God warned me about you, he forgot to mention how beautiful you are.”   
The Warrior Princess placed her hands behind her back and doing her best to disguise the smile that lightened up her features after hearing Ares cursing through their bond, she made a full circle around the chair where Canis was sitting..   
She waited for the roar of the soldiers to die down before she inquired about him and the War God.  
When it final did, she sat back down on the wooden bar stool that had been placed in front of the warlord.   
Turning around to look at the table of witnesses behind her, she gave her mother a wink and an easy smile of encouragement.   
“So you know the God of War personally?” she asked, turning her attention back to Canis, prepared to get down to the bottom of finding out who the ringleader that was leading this group really was.   
“He has spoken to you?” she probed, doubtful that he was being truthful.   
“Yes of course, I am his chosen!” he exclaimed gleefully hoping this bit of information would impress her and everyone else in the room.   
She gave Canis a seductive smile, to encourage him to continue, and the fake grin worked when he unrelentingly told her more.  
“The dinars we made off the ships at the docks were given to the War God as he requested.” Canis replied, sitting back in his chair, convinced that she had to be impressed with that piece of information he supplied that she would not be able to resist him now.   
“Tell me, Canis what would a God want with some measly dinars? ” she further inquired, while getting up and walking to the table of her audience, stopping in front of Gabrielle anticipating the warlord’s next answer.   
Canis sat up, placed his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands together.   
“Well, I don’t know… I guess you will have to ask the War God that question.” He said, reasoning that actually asking Ares this would be virtually impossible, and that she was playing right into his hands.   
“Gabrielle you’re an accomplished writer, and have dabbled in the many stories of the Gods and their Chosen, right?”   
Gabrielle sat up straight in her chair, and cleared her throat, eager to respond to the Warrior Princess’ question.   
“Yes it is true I have read and told many stories on this subject.”   
“Tell us then, what is in part of the oath that is pledged between the pair?”   
Xena turned back to face the warlord to see his face when Gabrielle revealed what she asked.  
“That they would protect one another and are obligated to come when called upon by each.” Gabrielle finished with her answer and sat back in her chair at the table waiting to see what was going to happen next.   
“So what? “He replied, eying Cyrene sitting at the table. “Surely Madame you don’t want the War God himself here in your establishment?”   
Xena moved over to block Canis’ view of her mother- who was also sitting back at one of the tables- and crossed her arms.   
“I’ll give you three chances to call your God before I break your neck for having lied to Me.” she announced a determined look across her face.  
Ares crossed the room and took a seat next to her on the edge of the table, guffawing and folding his arms across his chest.   
“What a moron.” he commented through their bond.   
“Well you better be ready to play your part to a tee.” she replied in the same way.   
“But of course my dear.” he responded as she lifted herself off the table at hearing the warlord call out Ares’ name for the third time.   
“So where is your God?” she replied, waving her arms around indicating the Olympian’s absence.  
“If you want him to show up so badly then call him yourself?” he mockingly countered her back, challenging her to try it and ultimately embarrassing herself too.   
“Ok!” she merely retorted back to Canis, going back to the stool sitting in from of him and settling on it, she closed her eyes more than ready to show this idiot who was whose Chosen.   
“If he doesn’t come for his Chose, what makes you think he’s going to listen to a mere woman?” Canis jeered through his hearty laugh.   
Xena peered through the slits of her eyelids at the warlord lounging in the chair in front of her as a breeze rustled her hair around her face, in an apparently still room, his fragrance filling her perceptions like his deep smooth voice erotically occupied her mind, repeating.   
“Just whisper my name my love.”


	39. Chapter 39

He held off long enough, making sure she shut her eyes. With a twinkle of mischief shining in his amber moons, he brought his hand up against his mouth and as someone who blew a loose eyelash from their palm, the gentle breath left his lips turning into blue sparks of light floating through the air of the tavern, creating an image that slowly began to take shape, both in reality and in the darkness behind her eyelids, gently caressing her entire body, like summer rain. The effect his magic had on her only threw himself too under the effect of the same spell, and soon, there was an impossibly not to notice bulge in his pants.

Bringing her hands to his hips, she grasped them firmly, giving them a strong squeeze, before moving on to his lower back, where she slightly dug her nails into his skin and, moving her hands upwards, she left a trail of red marks along his back.

Closing her eyes even tighter, she tipped her head back, reveling in the feel of his unseen fingers sliding up her exposed neck and lacing together at the back of her collar.

He pulled her closer, so their lips could touch and gently caressed hers with a kiss.

The passion in that kiss caused his name to spill hurriedly from her mouth. in a contented whispery breathe.

His signature blue orb of lights immediately began swirling at her feet and soon, Ares's silhouette gradually started to become visible replacing the orbs., just as the sounds of chairs around the room scuffed loudly against the wooden floor as people from the tables dove for cover or huddled in some corner….everyone except for Gabrielle who was still calmly seating in her chair at the table wearing a discreet smile on her lips.

A few seconds later, he fully materialized in front of her, looking down into her face as he ducked down and kissed her closed eyes causing them to open, and they shared a silent gaze.

During that time, he reached up and patted her softly on the cheek, before he abruptly turned from her towards the warlord, now uselessly pulling the chains that bound him and cowardly begging the soldiers who had taken cover behind his chair to let him go.

Easily recognizing the familiar gleam in Ares' eyes, she instantly reached up and wrapped her hands firmly around his forearm. However, as she did this, he balled up his fists and took a step towards Canis pulling her with him, but right when he started to take a swing at him, Xena placed herself in between the two.

"Now hold on just a minute!" she cried, putting her hands on his chest to stop him from sending Canis to Tartarus.

"Ye...ye...yes, what she said." Canis spluttered, as he bent forward, hiding his head in his lap and covering it with his hands.

"Why in the name of Hades did you call him from?" Canis shrieked from his lap.

Hearing him, Xena turned from Ares, ogling Canis bent over in his chair.

"Oh but Canis wait, weren't you the one claiming to be this God's Chosen? What is wrong? Don't you recognize your own Patron God?"

Canis vigorously shook his head that he still hid at his lap afraid to look up.

Ares took a step around her and stood next to the warlord's chair reaching out and grabbing a handful of his hair, he wrenched his head back against the chair revealing his pallid face to everyone in the room.

"The lady asked you a question… it would be wise for you to answer." he forewarned, giving him a shove forward as he released his hair.

Canis fell to the floor; visibly shaking his pitiful gaze fell on Xena.

Ares reached his arm out to her and she placed her hand into his. He gave hers a little squeeze before he pulled her towards him and, spinning her into his chest where he wrapped his arms around her waist, she relaxed back against him and placed her hands on his arms.

"You see Canis; a Chosen is much, much more than just someone to be at your beck and call." Ares indicated.

"Mortals seem not to realize this though"

His fingers- now entwined with hers- he pulled her around to face him, and meeting her eyes with his, he smiled.

"I'm playing my part? The question is, are you ready?" He asked her through their bond.

With a nod of her head, he grasped her hands again in his; he brought them up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on them before he proceeded to hook them behind his neck.

"It shouldn't be too hard to figure out, even for someone like you," he stated while his fingers lingered at her wrists before beginning their journey to her shoulders and resting them there.

"Canis would you know a mark of a Chosen if you saw one?" he inquired of the warlord.

The warlord, too scared to reply with words just rapidly shook his head yes.

Ares lifted his hand from her shoulder and swept her long dark hair back over her other shoulder exposing the back of her neck.

"SO… tell me then what do you see there?" he again requested from Canis.

The warlord studied the back of Xena's neck; his eyes grew as big as dinars at the image etched into the skin just below the hairline of her neck, as it finally registered whom he had been dealing with.

"A…a golden flower." he proclaimed. "The mark of the God of War, by the Gods I…I had no idea…"

Ares laughed. "Now there's the little matter we need to discuss about the ridiculously sleazy lines you were feeding her earlier."

About that time, a shout rang out from the corner of the room from under the tables.

Everyone turned around as Toris came out from under the table and stood in the middle of the room.

"Is that your big secret?" He shrieked his hands on his hips. "Is that what you were trying to tell mother earlier? That you're the whore of some God?"

Fed up with everyone's stupidity, Ares swung his arm up off her leg forming a fireball in his palm and threw it at the warlord, hitting him in the stomach and blasting him against the wall of the tavern incinerating him instantly.

Xena stood up to face him, about to protest against the violent act, but before she even had a chance to speak , Ares was already racing across the room to where her brother stood, hitting him full force, shoving his hand around his neck and forced him up against the wall.

About that time the front door opened, and, running into the room came little Ceja.


	40. Chapter 40

Xena barreled her way over to where Ares and Toris were, kicking chairs out of her way and yelling at the soldiers who were trying to get out of her path.   
She reached the upturned table that lay between her and her destination when she heard the front door of the tavern click open. She immediately stole a glance over her shoulder in that direction and noticed Ceja standing in the doorway, looking past everyone else except the men at the wall.   
Seeing Ceja run to her mother, Xena climbed over the upended table, and stood close to where her brother was so she could look Ares in the eyes, seizing hold of his jaw.   
“Ares! Look at me! You need to stop this! I told you I wanted to handle my brother on my own!”   
She gripped his chin almost to the point of bruising, drawing his face towards her, but that didn’t seem to have much an effect given his eyes were still impaled in the direction of her brother.   
Getting no response, she remembered Ceja as an afterthought, and emitted a peek to where the little girl sat on Cyrene’s lap. Her little face ashen was stained with fallen tears sweeping down her trembling chin.   
“Ares… Ceja’s here.” She once again tried to gain his attention. “She can see you and everything that’s going on over here please for her sake let her daddy go.”   
Ares’ focus shifted on her and his hand loosen the grip he had on Toris’ throat and he dropped him to the floor with a thud.  
Toris massaged his neck where Ares had manhandled him and as he turned to leave, but not before expressing his obvious irritation at the situation with an offensive gesture at his sister.   
Displeased with his reaction, Ares took a step in his direction when her arm stopped him.   
She hiked her boot up as she rested against the wall in front of him, waiting until her brother was out of earshot before she began.   
“I think we have a few things we need to talk about that happened tonight.”   
Ares reached up and put his hand on the wall above her head. “I...”   
“She’s what?” came the shout from the other side of the room.   
Xena relaxed her head back against the wall and closed her eyes grimacing at the thought that she knew what had happened when Ares’ hoarse chuckle rumbled through her. He bent forward, depositing a kiss on her lips, and caressed her cheek with his knuckles.   
“So now everything’s out, no more secrets it’s going to be ok.”   
He beckoned her with his head towards her family as he pulled her up off the wall by the wrist and they wrapped their arms around each other’s waist, making their way across the room to a mother who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.   
Later that evening, Ares was trying to relax on the stone railing of the front porch of the inn, his back resting against a post with his arms around Xena sitting in front of him.   
They watched in the distance the flames from the torches that her army carried lighting their way through the mountain pass on the road back to the kingdom.   
“You won’t regret your decision, I promise.” he purred in her ear as a breeze caught some strands of her hair and blew them back against his face. The scent of lavender consumed the rest of his thoughts, and he tightened his arms around her as she laid back against his chest and he caressed the bulging belly that was becoming more and more noticeable by the day.   
The front door opened to the front porch and Gabrielle stepped out crossing the porch to the couple on the stone railing.   
“I just wanted to say good night to you guys,” she said, placing her hand on Xena’s arm. “I think you made the right decision….I’m glad that you let me stay here with you.”   
Both Xena and Ares gave her a nod and Gabrielle turned to go back into the inn to find the room that Cyrene had given her.   
“Well I guess that made all the difference in the world and now we can just relax and enjoy every moment together. “ Ares sarcastically remarked after Gabrielle had closed the door behind her.   
“Oh stop, you know I need her here too. You will just have to get used to it.”   
In the meantime, Toris was sitting at the table by the big bay window of the inn ignoring the steaming cup of tea his mother had set in front of him as he watched the couple on the porch. His mother sat across from him while Agnes had gone home to put Ceja to bed.   
“How can you be alright with this?” Toris inquired in a grave voice.  
She finished her sip of her tea before she responded to his question giving her time to think out her reply carefully.  
“She’s a big girl now and it’s her decision who she wants to be with. It’s not any of my business nor is it yours.”   
“Yeah but the War God! Mother do you not realize what this means?” he blew, raising his voice to a shriek as his hand tried to massage the tension in his neck away.   
“Son, I don’t think the real problem is that he is who he is….What is actually bothering you is that he is not Philip… When Xena left home, she was just a girl who to a certain point-needed big brother’s protection, she looked up to you for advice. Now she has come back home as a woman perfectly capable of making her own decisions. I think that is what is bugging you so much.”  
“Well I’d tell her one thing, that’s she’s making a big mistake.” he declared, in a straight to the point answer.

“That again it’s her choice, you better accept it and try and mend things between the two of you before it’s too late.”   
Cyrene got up from the table and crossed the room to place her cup in an empty bucket on a nearby tub used for the inn’s dirty dishes before she turned back to her son, just to see him once again starring out the window at his sister. She would like to solve this problem between the two but they were both adults now and they would have to figure out a way to work it out themselves.   
“I’m off to bed. Talk to her, tell her how you feel.” she urged before she left the room through the private door leading to their family part of the inn.   
Toris slouched back in his chair holding his cup in the palm of his hands bringing it gently to his lips as his attention was drawn to the flame of a candle sitting close by on the tabletop. He reflected back to his mother’s words that now floated around in his head.   
“Maybe he did still see her as that young girl just barely old enough to marry. He had taken up the roll as the father figure and all three of the siblings were extremely close. However, everything changed that day they lost Lyceus, things had gone bad between them and then she left.”   
He looked out the window with a pensive expression at the past memories still echoing through his thoughts; his smiled though as he bent down to blow out the candle then turned to head home.


	41. Chapter 41

The bright morning light was shining in the big bay window brightening the breakfast table. Toris sat at the table with Ceja on his lap feeding her from his plate and his wife Agnes seated beside him while they were eating their morning meal.   
Gabrielle came down the steps from her room and strode over to the table where the little family sat.   
“Good morning everyone!” she sang in her usually cheer voice. She had never slept so well since being away from home, who knew them army cots could be so uncomfortable.   
“Morning.” Toris and Agnes replied together.  
“Hi.” Ceja also retorted around a mouth full of eggs.   
“Well good morning, sleepy head.” Cyrene joined in when she came through the swinging kitchen door and noticed Gabrielle standing at the table. She placed the pans of food she had brought in from the kitchen in the middle of the table.   
“Please sit and have morning meal with us.” Cyrene requested to the Bard as she took her own place at the table next to Agnes.   
Gabrielle took the position across the table from Cyrene, placed her napkin in her lap, and began to fill her plate from the pans on the table.   
While Gabrielle and Cyrene started discussing baby names, a handful of eggs struck Gabrielle in the face followed by a small giggle when she looked towards the little mischief-maker sitting on her father’s lap. Ceja was right about to throw another handful when Toris caught her hand.   
“Sorry.” he apologized to the bard while he emptied the little girl’s hand of eggs and wiped them down with a napkin. “That was a very rude thing to do, darling!” he scolded as he set her on the floor so she could go play.  
Ceja headed for a wooden toy box that sat by the fireplace Toris had built it for her to keep her toys in.   
“By the way Gabrielle, have you seen my sister this morning?”   
“No not this morning. She’s probably with Ares at their home.” she replied as she wiped the remainder of the eggs out of her hair.   
“What’s that like? I mean their home. Isn’t mount Olympus his home? “Agnes questioned Gabrielle.  
“Yes it’s on mount Olympus, the Halls of War to be more precise. It’s really beautiful you should ask them to take you there sometime.”   
But before any other words were spoken, a twinkling sound filled the air and Xena walked out of the eather into the room and walked over to where everyone sat at the table picked up some grapes and popped them into her mouth.   
Cyrene who was sipping from her cup at the time startled in fright and spilled tea all over the front of her dress catching her cup right before it dropped to the floor from her daughter’s sudden appearance.   
When Ares appeared soon after Xena, Cyrene was wiping off the spill off the front of her dress.   
“You two are going to give me a heart attack if you keep appearing like that.” Cyrene complained, eyeing her daughter who was still standing at the table.   
Ares showed up right behind Xena and touched her elbow to get her attention, just in case she failed to realize that he had followed her through the ether.   
“I wasn’t done talking to you!” he let her know.  
“Well I was done listening to you,” she countered, turning around to look him in the eyes.   
Gabrielle started giggling, drawing attention to herself before she could explain.   
“You see, you guys got to see the loving side of their relationship last night.” she stopped to shove more food into her mouth before she continued. “This is what they are like on the day to day basis,” she explained pointing at them both.   
Xena rolled her eyes at Ares before she took a seat beside Gabrielle at the corner of the table and started filling a plate of food.   
Ares crouched at the end of the table, placed his arms on its surface, and positioned his chin on his hands.   
He took a minute to study her while she ate, admiring how she glowed from her pregnancy.   
He was just getting ready to finish what they started before Gabrielle disrupted them with her opinion about their relationship, when he heard, someone clear his or her throat behind him.   
Ares twisted around to find a feline size sprite.   
“Who are you?” he questioned, not a bit surprised by the nymph’s appearance. He knew his father often used them as messengers, but still, this was the first time he had the privilege to meet one.   
“My name is Ezio my Lord,” he answered in a whiney small voice.  
“I haven’t seen you before. What happened to my father’s regular messenger? Ares inquired of Ezio.   
“Uh…he was busy with one of your sisters so I was asked to come retrieve you and take you to your father.” Ezio answered nervously.   
“I know the way… what am I need for?” Ares asked, suspicious of this request.   
“I’m sorry my Lord I do not know the answer to that I’m just following orders.” Ezio added.

The War God stood up from the floor and delicately took Xena’s hands pulling her up from the chair to stand in front of him.   
“I won’t be long.” he expressed, after kissing her fully on the lips.   
He backed away from her, still holding her hand in his eventually letting it slide from hers.   
“Ok let’s make this quick.” he spoke to Ezio and the next minute they vanished.   
After they left, the women busied themselves with cleaning up the dirty dishes from the table.   
Eventually, they headed for the kitchen, leaving Xena and Toris alone except for Ceja who was now sitting by the bay window, playing with the doll Xena had given her.   
Toris glanced over at his daughter sitting nearby then back at his sister that sat across the table with a dour look. “I’ve always hated that doll.”   
She leaned her elbow on the table and put her hand to her mouth to cover the small smile on her face. “Yeah I remember you and Ly used to tease me to no end about it.”   
“Yeah I remember.” he chuckled back.   
At that moment, Ceja spoke out disrupting their conversation. “Daddy look!” She called pointing out the window. “Who are those people with the pretty feathers?”


	42. Chapter 42

"Daddy who are the women with the beautiful feathers?" Ceja inquired of her father as she looked up from combing her dolls hair and gazed out the windowpane of her grandmother's inn.

Xena swapped a perplexed look with her brother as they both got up from the table to join the little girl at the window.

"Now what?" Xena mumbled as she lowered her head to study the women outside through the glass pane.

"Just one way to find out." She answered herself while placing her hands atop of Ceja's shoulders and giving her a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be ok sweetheart they are here for me." Xena told the child as she offered her brother a nod before heading out the door.

The Warrior Princess stood on the front stoop studying the two Amazons, patting her growing belly under the new leathers that Ares had surprised her with when she awoke that morning in their bed at the Halls of War.

Xena carefully studied the Amazons before she descended the wooden steps of the inn to walk across the courtyard to where they sat on their horses. The grim looks on the women's face did not hold a promising outlook. In addition, she instantly realized that there was someone missing from the group that she had expected to see the next time they visited.

"So what do you want?" Xena asked them before patting Eponin's horse on the rump. She came around and stood in front of them eyeing them both.

She crossed her arms against her chest waiting for their answer.

"You're wondering why we aren't delivering Maggie to you today?" Solari - the other Amazon questioned throwing a nervous glance to her companion, deliberating which one of them would deliver the terrible news to the Warrior Princess.

"Yeah I pondered that myself." Xena stated, casting a glimpse over her shoulder when the screech of the screen door of the inn caught her attention. Toris stepped outside with Ceja in his arms, making sure to let the door bang shut behind him, as if wanting to get their attention on purpose...

"Well huh." Eponin started, fidgeting around in her saddle, quite nervous regarding the words that were to come next. "She overheard about Canis being dead, and then disappeared from the village."

"Great!" Xena barked as she frowned at the women and puffed her bangs out from her eyes.

"On a good note we found a campsite we think she has recently used. That's why we came to get you to go investigate it." Solari added.

"Fine let's go then." Xena grumbled and turned to walk back to where her brother now sat on the railing of the wooden porch, observing their conversation.

"I'll be back sometime after dark." she informed her brother as she passed by on her way to the stables to get her horse. "I've got something to take care of. Tell mother not to hold dinner, I may be late."

Toris nodded his head at his sister then turned his attention back to the two women waiting for her.

He waited until Xena came out of the barn on her horse and joined the Amazons and together they rode out of town.

"Let's go Ceja. We need to find grandma," he said to his daughter who was still in his arms, giving her a playful bounce on his hip eliciting a giggle from her before they turned to enter the inn.

Xxx 

The group reached the mentioned campsite and after dismounting, their horses began their search. While the Amazons kept investigating, the outer edge of the camp, Xena went to check out the cooking pit.

She picked up the bits and pieces of burnt wood that were laying around amongst the rocks that formed the crater, feeling them for any warmth from a recent fire.

Just a few seconds later, out of the corner of her eye she caught site of a wooden bowl tipped up on its side and leaning on a small rock nearby.

Xena went over to retrieve it and while holding it in her hand she rubbed the inside of it, lifting the residue from its sides. Rubbing her fingers together, she felt the sticky powder that now layered her fingertips and brought them up to her nose to smell them.

The scent sparked familiar memories; she remembered smelling it on Ares after the attack in the woods and then later on Damia when they had first met.

The Amazons stood behind her watching her then Solari came and squatted beside Xena. She reached for the container that she held in her hands.

"That looks like the bowls that the shamaness from our tribe uses." She said and spun the bowl around in her hands, inspecting it further.

"Yeah…. see the symbol of the bow and arrow?" She traced the symbol with her index fingers. "This is one of ours I'm sure of it."

"Maggie dabbled in that stuff before she left our village." Eponin added from behind the other two women. "I think her daughter took Maggie's place afterwards."

"Damia left town on one of our horses, roughly a week ago. Do you think they could have met up back here?" Xena asked looking around on the ground for more evidence.

"No… There was one set of fresh hoof prints and a horse went missing from our stables too. It couldn't have been both of them here." Solari quickly answered, glancing between both women before she added. "We can follow the trail that leads away from the camp but it's towards the highlands."

Xena looked up to the sky and examined the sky…The sun was sinking behind the mountains and it was starting to get darker around them.

"No it will be too dark to see anyways. I think we should head back to our homes and meet up again at dawn."

Xena rose from the ground to retrieve her horse mounting him and the Amazons followed her lead.

"Don't worry we'll catch up with her in the morning. We'll gather here bright and early tomorrow." With that, she guided her horse towards the inn, leaving the Amazons to do the same.

Xxx

Toris laid next to Ceja on her little divan a book in his hand and his daughter fell fast asleep in his arms. He scooted out from under her and repositioned her on her soft pillow pulling her covers up to her chin.

He kissed her on the forehead before he placed the volume on the nightstand table, blowing out the lantern that hung on the wall above her bed.

With a last look at his little girl, he crept to the door and closed it behind him, overlooking the shadow that flittered across the walls of the sleeping chambers from someone scrutinizing them from outside the glass pane window.


	43. Chapter 43

As Xena rode into the village way after dark, the villagers should have been in their homes with their families but instead torches burned brightly, lighting the crowd that stood down the road in front of her mother's inn.

She pulled the hood of her cloak tighter under her chin as she kicked her horse into a trot closing in the distance to the commotion and then slowing her horse down near the crowd, and quickly spotted her brother, his arm around his wife pushing their way through the people towards her. Tears streaked his face.

"Xena!" he gulped Ceja is gone. I went to check on her before I headed to bed. Her window was open and she's gone!"

A shiver ran down her spine when she heard the words coming from her brother's mouth and it took a few minutes for her to gather her thoughts before she could reply when an old man walked into the light of the torches from the darkness.

"Finally, someone who might listen to what I have to say!" he said, his voice curt with anger. "I've been trying to tell these people that I saw tonight, however, they would not listen to me, under the pretext that I was just a drunken old man."

Xena turned her attention to him. "I'll listen to you. What did you see?" the words hurried from her lips. There was no time to waste if she wanted to catch up to whoever had taken her niece.

"He doesn't know anything!" Toris left his wife and walked over to the old man, giving him a shove in the chest. "He's just a drunken old fool who's been in mother's tavern all day drinking ale. What is it this time old man? Seeing imaginary pink elephants again?" Toris spat out in anger, giving him another hard shove back.

"That's enough Toris!" Xena snapped at her brother. "If he can give us any information about Ceja we should listen."

"Tell me exactly what you saw." she repeated, redirecting her attention back to the old man, and hoping he had solid information for her.

"Someone on horseback rode by me when I had just reached the outskirts of the village boarders where my little camp sat. I did not think anything of it at the time. A little while later when I was asleep in my bedroll I was awoken from all the screaming then seeing the flames of torches being lit and people coming out into the streets here."

He gave Toris a hard look then.

"I headed back here even though this one." He thumbed a finger towards Toris. "Had told me that he was going to have me thrown in jail if I didn't leave." he scolded Toris, poking him on the arm.

"Never mind that" she interrupted the two men when she noticed once again the anger crossing her brother's face. "Did you happen to get a good look at the rider? Did they have anyone else with them?"

"Couldn't tell. It was too dark and they had a cape wrapped around them and their hood pulled tight around their face. But they were in quite a hurry." he answered her, not removing his eyes or his finger from Toris.

"Could you at least tell where they were headed?" she inquired, attempting to get as much information she could before she went looking for this mysterious rider.

"Yeah they headed west across the river." The old man relaxed and stepped away from Toris towards Xena. "The only thing over there is an old farm surrounded by woods."

She glanced down to meet her brother's eyes. "Don't you worry I'll bring Ceja home!" she promised before she pulled the reins turning her horse around kicking him into a run down the dirt road heading out of town.

After crossing the river, she entered the woods and it did not take long to locate the old farm. Entering onto the property the smell of rotted wood and horses filled her nose and after looking around, she rode by the aged farmhouse that even bathed in the moon light she could tell that it half stood on its foundation falling past repair.

She traversed over to the fence of the corral that stood behind the back of the barn, which was barely standing, but in a little better shape than the house, itself was.

As she was riding her horse along the outside of the fence that connected to the barn. She saw another horse that was inside the enclosure. Who began to follow along behind them.

When they reached the building, she alit from her horse and tied him to the corral fence; the other horse came over to the railing and she patted both horses on the muzzle before she walked over to the back of the barn.

Pulling her sword out of its sheath, she peeped around the corner of the barn to see if the coast was clear then she slid around the edge and flattened her back against the wall as she moved to the front of the barn.

Xena graciously jumped in the air giving the barn door a powerful kick then spun around and leaned back against the wall beside the door to catch her breath and wait.

The barn door burst opened with a loud bang hitting the inside wall the hinges barely holding to the frame it was connected to, squeaking as the door slowly swung back to the doorframe.

She took a deep breath before she spun around and stood in the empty open entrance her sword firmly held out in front of her ready for whatever stood inside the barn.

The moonlight bathed the inside of the barn but her eyes scanned the dark crevices in the back where the light did not reach as she stepped carefully through the old chaff that littered the dirt floor.

Slowly making her way to the rear of the barn where the horses where kept in stalls, she swung her sword over her head as she twirled around and stabbed at a stack of hay in reaction to a loud screech from an owl that sat on the rafters above her.

She exhaled an extended gust of breath to calm her nerves when a small whimper from one of the stalls caught her attention. She held her sword in front of her at her waist as she crept over to the old wooden entrance.

Standing in front of the stall door, she lifted her boot up and nudged it opened and as it slowly swung back, Xena froze in place unable to move at what it revealed to her inside.

However, before she could utter a word, a sharp pain ripped through her head and blood appeared at her hairline and raced down her face. She abruptly dropped to her knees with a jerk, and everything went dark before her eyes as she slid to the floor of the stall, her head finally resting on the ground next to a pair of tiny boots.

Thank you Anca


	44. Chapter 44

Gabrielle rolled from her side to her back stretching her body out as she listened to the rattling of the dishes and banging of the pots and pans on the stove from the nearby kitchen. She had grown accustom to the sounds of the cook preparing meals in the wee hours of the morning from her extended stay at the inn.   
A loud bang on a wall from the other side of her room found Gabrielle sitting straight up in bed and the loud voices following the thud had her throwing back her covers, daggling her feet over the edge of the bed, rummaging around with her toes trying to find her slippers. When she found them, she got up, retrieved her robe hanging from the bedpost, slipped her arms inside, and tied the wrap around her waist on her way to her bedroom door.   
She slipped out of her door and crept down the hall careful not to wake up anyone else that would be still asleep at that early hour. She slowly reached the doorway of the room where the noise had come from.   
She peeped inside and immediately noticed that the little dresser now scooted out from the wall and all the drawers pulled out and emptied, and Ceja’s bed was against the other wall seemingly stripped of all its covering. Alarmed, Gabrielle stepped into the room clearing her throat to gain the attention of Toris and his wife who were holding each other.   
“Gabrielle.” Toris sobbed, too choked up to continue but instead reached out his hand for hers.   
She took it and walked full into the room.  
“What’s happened? Where is Ceja? Has Xena returned? Does she know?” The questions started spilling hurriedly out of her mouth.   
Toris took a deep breath followed by a hard swallow before he answered, obviously shaken up by the unfortunate event.   
“Someone must have entered sometime in the night and took her. An old man that is camping out on the outskirts of town, saw someone ride by his site last night and he told Xena and she went after them. We were hoping to see if the kidnapper left any clues behind to who would do such a terrible thing and why”   
Startled about everything that Toris told her but the last part shocked her the most. “By herself? You let her go by herself?”   
Toris exchanged looks with his wife. “Yes…I didn’t think about it at the time and I couldn’t have stopped her even if I had wanted to… She took off so fast.”   
“Who was the stranger told you all of this? I haven’t seen anyone new in town since the army left almost a week ago.”   
Toris pushed passed Gabrielle out of the bedroom door walking to an outer door of the family living area and into the dining room of the inn. Gabrielle and Agnes quickly followed on his heels.   
He stepped upon the bottom steps of the stairs that led to the second floor rooms they rented out to customers. He peered over the crowded room of people waiting to hear of news about his daughter.   
“The last I saw him, he was waiting out here with everyone else.” Toris stated as he began scanning the crowd again.   
The three decided it would be faster if they split up to question the villagers about the whereabouts of the old man.   
About a half a candle mark later, they met back up with no new answers about the stranger.   
“I don’t like this. No one I talked to knew your mystery man and had not seen him in town before tonight. You shouldn’t have let her go alone.” Gabrielle declared. “I’m going to go look for her.”   
Toris grabbed her arm before she could make it out the front door. “You don’t even know which way she went!”   
Gabrielle jerked her arm out of his hand. “Some of the villagers I questioned said she was told to cross the river when she got outside of town, to an old abandon farm in the woods.” She replied, and then she headed out the door. Toris followed her outside and stopped her again on the porch before she got to the stairs.   
“You can’t find your way on your own. I’ll go help you find her since it was my fault she went alone in the first place.” he added, not taking no for an answer…  
Then, the two descended the stairs and headed towards the stables to find a couple of horses.   
XXX  
The hard steel beneath her legs made her shiver with cold and the wood, rough on her back was uncomfortable. Xena groaned with pain as she tried to open her eyes- encrusted with dry blood from her head wound too looked around to find that she was now in the middle of the abandoned barn.  
She grumbled at her sore and stiff body and she tried to shift but found that her hands had been tied together and placed behind the handles of an old farm plow.   
Resting her head back against the wooden handles of the tiller, she closed her eyes to think of a plan to get out of this unexpected situation. She had not heard from Ares since he left that morning and calling for him turned out to be useless….Whatever he had done to piss off Zeus this time, she had no clue and the punishment must have been as harsh as Tartarus if it had the power to keep him away for so long.   
Hearing a small whimper from the ground beside her, she remember having seen Ceja before someone knocked her on the head. Turning to the side, she saw the little girl still lying on the ground close by on some old straw.   
“Ceja” she whispered to get the little girls attention. “Are you ok?”   
Her niece raised her head up off the ground and turned her face towards her. Even in the dimly lit barn, Xena could make out her swollen black eye and the smaller bruises that dotted her face. The blood that had ran from her busted lip had dried by now and she quivered in a pitifully soft whimpered response of.   
“I want my daddy.”   
Fresh tears gushed out of Xena’s eyes and spilled down her face as she looked at her little niece feeling helpless herself, wishing she could just take her lovingly in her arms and keep her safe from harm.   
“Ceja, it’s going to be ok. You will see your daddy again soon. Can you come help me out over here and untie my hands?” She coaxed the little girl over to try it.  
Ceja lifted herself up to her hands and knees, crawled over behind Xena, and lifted her hands up to the ropes that tied her aunt’s hands together. When a booming voice cut through the air though, she jumped back in fright and she just scooted back against the closed stall doors, tucking her face into her uplifted knees, and squeezing her hands together, she began to cry again.  
“Leaving so soon? Aww come on, we have not had our fun yet! Well….mine not yours. So do tell me, Xena how does it feel not being the one in charge this time?” the faceless voice enquired.   
“Who are you? Show yourself you coward!” Xena mocked curious to see finally, who was behind this crime.  
The faceless voice stepped out of the darkened corner and stood in the moonlight that beamed through the only window in the barn the scornful smile they wore showing no respect for the captives they held hostage in that barn.   
“By the look of shock on your face, I did a bang up job in fooling you. You never suspected that it would be me did you?”


	45. Chapter 45

Damia.” Xena seethed through clenched teeth when the young woman stepped out of the darkened corner she had confidently stood watching her captive in and into the moonbeams of the small window in the barn.   
With a self-satisfied smile, she crept towards Xena, lightly touching the knee of her legs that straddled the plow.   
“Ah… I am flattered you remembered my name. Of course, I would never forget yours. Xena, Xena!” she mockingly chanted repeatedly, as if she were in fact talking to an old friend while she spontaneously positioned her long fingernails on Xena’s knee and scraped them up her leg to her upper thigh leaving red scratches in their wake.   
Xena cringed from the pain shifting uncomfortably where she sat, skimming her fingers along the rope that bounded her wrist behind the wooden handles of the plow testing it for any weak links.   
She moved over from Xena’s leg and began twirling her long dark hair with her fingers.   
“How could I ever forget the one person who caused me to loose everyone I have ever cared about? First my mother, then Casey…even Hermes who only used me so he could get closer to you when he found out who your caregiver was.”   
Damia suddenly seized forcefully a handful of the hair she had been twirling and stared into space, ignoring the pain she was causing the woman she lingered over.  
“He was so infatuated with her, that he gifted her with a golden lyre that played exquisite music that he often crowed that it was the only thing that could possibly come close to matching her beauty.”   
She shoved Xena’s head away from her as she let go of the handful of hair jeering when she threw up her hands at the ridiculousness of it all.   
All the while, she kept on ranting as she turned and made her way to the little girl that was trembling in the corner, terrified by what she was seeing.   
“Chione would often brag about her beauty and that she could have any God she desired. Why would she want to just settle for Hermes?”   
Damia continued, squatting down beside Ceja and with her knuckles, she caressed the bruises on the girl’s face, as a mother would comfort her own hurt child.   
Ceja withdrew from her touch then cried out in pain when Damia slapped her across the cheek.  
“Leave her alone!” Xena shouted, thrashing with the ropes to free herself from her constraints.   
“Tsk tsk…” Damia clicked her tongue at Xena’s ineffective effort of getting loose. “That’s one good thing I learned from the Amazons…How to tie up an enemy.” 

Xena stopped struggling and relaxed her head back against the wooden handles of the plow. “We aren’t your enemies Damia. If you just let us go, then you can simply disappear.”   
“And ruin my plans for my dear Hermes? Oh no, no that won’t do at all.”   
With one last look at the little girl, she went over to a timbered horse cubicle nearby to retrieve her dagger.   
“Anyways, to continue with my story, Chione managed to alienate all the Gods, but one in particular wasn’t just going to ignore the Goddess’ arrogance. She wanted to rid her from Olympus and from all their lives.”   
She removed the dagger from its sheath hanging from the booth and ran her fingers up and down the blade.   
“Artemis went to her uncle Eleusis who in turn made his favorite niece a cup of divine mile. He told her it would put the Goddess to sleep.”  
Damia brought the blade up to her mouth and held the sharp end to her tongue causing a trickle of blood flow when she removed it, testing just how sharp it was.   
“Once Chione drank the herbs and fell into a deep sleep, Artemis found the golden lyre that Hermes had offered to the slumbering Goddess and put a spell on it so that it would be the only thing that could awaken the immortal.”   
Damia was now hovering over Xena again and placed the end of the dagger on her swelled belly pushing her cloak back. “Artemis hid the lyre deep in the Pangaion Mountains and the only ones who could retrieve it would be no other than a greedy mortal.”   
Damia pierced the material of Xena’s clothing with the stiletto exposing her swelled naked belly and then ran the tip of the blade down the middle of her stomach. “That’s where Canis and his army came in the picture they were to recover the golden lyre for the God.”   
She lovingly petted Xena’s naked belly. “There was another trade that the God had made but after I’m through with the two of you that one won’t be available to him any longer.”   
She laughed hysterically as she raised the dagger up over her head readying herself to plunge it into the warrior princess stomach when the sound of an arrow being notched and a bow string being pulled taunt stopped her intention.  
Hearing the familiar battle sound, Xena opened her eyes, the tears that built up in the folds of her closed lids running down her cheeks.   
Damia glanced over her shoulder as she moved to kneel on the ground beside the plow where Xena sat clutching a handful of her hair again jerked her head back and placed the blade against her skin.   
“Ahh so you decided to come back to me after walking away after I told you what I was planning for our little want to be general here huh? Well it is too late! I thought up the plan to kidnap her, made it happen and now I am the one who gets the pleasure of killing her, not you!  
Damia moved the dagger to slit the Warrior Princess’ throat at the same time as the taunt string of the bow released and the arrow sailed through the air crossing the room.   
Simultaneously, a brilliant light filled the room followed by an earsplitting explosion.   
Screams of pain reverberated through the barn and into the night air before the thump of the bloody dagger that fell to the wooden floor.   
Xxx  
Just as the sun rose up over the tops of the mountains Toris and Gabrielle raced their horses through the broken fence of the abandon farm. Having seen the flashing lights from the barn and hearing loud screaming they finally came upon on the old barn.   
Jumping from her horse before it came to a full stop, Gabrielle froze in mid stride when the barn doors banged open and a few minutes later a shadowy figure covered in a long hooded cloak took a few steps towards them before collapsing to the ground.  
Toris had gotten off his horse by then and stood beside Gabrielle grabbing her arm before they took off into a run to the fallen stranger, slowing down only when they approached the covered shape that laid on the grass at their feet.   
Dropping to the ground on her knees next to the body, Gabrielle anxiously stretched out her arm and tossed back the wrap covering them.   
“Maggie?” Gabrielle’s whisper came out in a hush toned as Toris bent down and picked up Ceja from out of the woman’s arms cuddling his child in his own.   
Maggie, her face and hair singed from fire glanced up and met Gabrielle’s eyes with her own and in a short ragged breath. “After I shot the arrow I grabbed the child. I…I thought she would be right behind us after I cut the ropes that bonded her wrist then he…” she took another short breath Before her head fell back and to the side and her body went limp as she died.   
Gabrielle looked at Toris before she stood up from squatting on the ground yelling “Xena!” and she ran quickly to the old abandon barn.  
As she crossed over the threshold of the old barn, the sun began trickling through the open door and from the little window, illuminating the area inside.   
Gabrielle put her hand over her mouth in a gasped response to seeing Damia’s burnt body draped over an old farm plow blood dripping from the arrow wound in her chest and pooling in a puddle on the wooden floor beneath her. The gentle breeze entering through the open barn doors blew the ropes that hung from the wooden handles.   
Inspecting the area further, she spotted the bow that now laid deposited in the corner nearby assuming that the arrow in Damia’s chest had come from it.   
Toris with Ceja now asleep in his arms came to stand behind Gabrielle. “What the Hades happened here? Where’s Xena?”   
Gabrielle wrapped her arms around her chest hugging herself and shook her head. “I don’t know Toris? But I sure hope Ares had a hand in this and she’s with him now.”


	46. Chapter 46

The Roman Goddess of War crouched in front of the stone fireplace in the large throne room of her temple. She blew on the steam rising from the cup of hot tea she was clasping in her hands; the blaze from the fire emphasized her strawberry blonde hair.

Ezio, a few feet away from her, tapped his knuckles on the hard surface of the amazing made marble statue created especially for the Roman God by a very skilful artisan, who in turn owed the little Nereid a huge favor from back when he had helped him find his own Godhood.

"You're positive this enchanted statue will hold him until we are ready with our plan?" Bellona questioned the nymph, pinning him from across the room with her dark green eyes that danced with delight that her scheme had worked out so splendidly.

"Yes my lady, Vulcan assured me that when imprisoned inside it would hold any God."

The Goddess flung her empty teacup into the flames that burned the kindling assembled on the steel crate inside the fireplace, shattering the glass cup and the shards fell immediately into the ashes below.

She crossed to the middle of the chamber were the sculpture sat and placed her fingernails on its exterior, circling around to where Ezio stood. The screeching sound of her nails on granite echoed around the room much like the ones on a chalkboard initiating shudders that ran up the dwarf's back.

"I would guess by now Hermes has been reunited with his lover Chione. I was relieved to learn that Canis' second in command was just as greedy as the warlord himself and not quite as stupid as to get himself caught then killed by the Warrior Princess' army."

The Roman Goddess caressed Ezio's shoulder closest to her finishing with a flick of his abnormally oversized earlobe.

"Our little plan has worked out perfectly for just about everyone… well except maybe the Warrior Princess. She should be meeting HIM right about now and of course we can't forget about our little friend here..."

Bellona gazed up at the silhouette of the Olympian's face carved into the hard granite statue they stood at the feet of an evil grin on her face. Both immortals let out a wave of diabolic laugh, in unison.

Inside the mineral figurine, bloody fingers stilled from trying anything to escape not any less but by digging through the hard surface. When hearing first the chatter than the laughing from somewhere outside, the War God rested his back against the inside of the statue, his dark curls of wet hair hanging his face from his efforts of escape.

XXX

The rain from the outside dripped from the ceiling of the dank dark cave landing on the face of the Warrior princess laying on the slab of stone. Her eyes fluttered open not once but twice trying to adjust to the darkness that surrounded her.

Confused by what had happened, she searched her memories of the last thing she was able to remember.

Recollections of surprises filled her mind as Damia fell across her, dead from the arrow in her chest and then Maggie stepping out of the darkened corner with a bow in her hand, ultimately saving her life from her demented daughter.

The last few minutes of those tragic events were rather fuzzy, as she had watched Maggie running across the barn towards her then stooping down to pick up the child laying next to her on the barn floor and next cutting the ropes that bounded Xena's hands.

The bright light had filled the room the following moment and now she awoke in this dark cave and once again tied to this slab of rock and all alone.

She closed her eyes as a pain ripped through her head and the shooting sound of a flute filled her mind. An ancestral melody as old as time, that her memory recognized instantly though, one that she had heard before and that was connected to something frighteningly dark from her past….Something that she would have preferred to keep buried deep inside her for the rest of her life….


End file.
